Chuck versus the games
by Rebecca321
Summary: Chuck and Sarah live in district 12, and are both sent to fight til their deaths in the Hunger Games. Can Chuck's love for Sarah survive even this impossible situation, or will he be blinded by the horrors of the game and forget who he once was?  AU. Crossover with Chuck and the Hunger Games. Both Chuck and Sarah's POV. Now with a rewritten beginning.
1. Chuck versus the reaping

**Hi guys!**

**So here's the thing, I loooove both Chuck and the Hunger Games and I got this idea and I just needed to write it down! So here we go, a story about Chuck and Sarah in district 12! Hope y'all like it**

**So a quick lesson for those of you that haven't read/seen the Hunger Games:**

**Tesserae:**** If you don't have enough food for your family you can take tesserae, and you get extra food during a year, but if you choose to take tesserae then you will have one more parcel in the reaping-lottery. So let's say that you have four family-members that need extra food, then you'll have four extra parcels in the lottery. So the poor people have a bigger chance of getting reaped than the rich ones.**

**The reaping:**** Each year the Capital (Panem) has a competition called the Hunger Games. One boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 get chosen to participate. They chose one girl and one boy from every district, and there are 12 districts. **

**The Seam:**** The Seam is the place in district 12 where the poor people live (the ones that work as miners or the ones that don't have any work at all).**

**District 12:**** District 12 is the poorest district, and most of the inhabitants work as miners, since that is the districts "national-product". **

**P.S English is not my first language so I apologize for any grammar errors.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games.**

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><p>Chuck fiddled nervously with a loose button on his white shirt. The beautiful shirt with embroidery in white thread had once belonged to his father, but after his death Chuck had inherited it. It was also the only nice shirt he had, because he and Ellie where what people referred to as poor, and in District 12 there was a shortage of beautiful clothes. He stopped with the fiddling and looked around the old square where he was standing. It was slowly beginning to fill with people. Adults, elders, kids... Almost all of the inhabitants of district 12 were there.<p>

He felt someone poke him in the side and turned around. There stood Morgan, his best friend since kindergarten, in a clean brown shirt with black pants and with his hair combed.

"Happy Hunger Games!" Morgan started with the stupid capitol accent.

"And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Chuck ended with a laugh. This was their last reaping since they were both eighteen now, something that Ellie had been bringing up all morning.

"_Chuck this is our last reaping EVER! Do you get that? Tonight we don't have to worry about the games anymore! "_

She had been going on like that all morning, probably because she was nervous that his name was going to get called at the reaping. He had been trying to sound just as cheery as her, pushing all of the fear away.

"_Sure El, tonight we're going to celebrate."_

He had 13 parcels now, because he had been taking tesserae until he was sixteen. Their mother had left him and Ellie when he was only nine and she was twelve. Four years later their dad died in a mining accident and since none of them wanted to live at the orphanage, both of them were forced to take tesserae to survive. When Ellie had turned eighteen she had been offered an apprenticeship at the pharmacy, even though she was from the Seam. She was extremely smart and the owners of the pharmacy loved her, but even with the extra money they still barely made it, and most times they went to bed hungry, but Ellie didn't want him to have more parcels than necessary.

He looked around the square and found his sister standing with her boyfriend Devon near the bakery on the other side of the square. He caught her eye and she tried to give him a comforting smile, but Chuck could see how nervous she was. Devon was holding her in a tight grip and Chuck realized how glad he was that she had Devon. Devon had made him a promise many years ago when he and Ellie had started dating. That if Chuck ever got chosen as a tribute, Devon would be there for her no matter what. That made him feel a lot better, knowing that she would be with someone who cared for her, even if the unthinkable happened.

He watched as Effie Trinket made her way up to the stage. Effie was the representative of the Capital, and she picked the two tributes that would compete in the games. If the whole situation hadn't been so serious he probably would've laughed. She looked so funny trying to walk on the cobblestone streets with her high heels and ridiculous clothes, and he could almost hear her cursing whoever decided to put her on district 12.

Once she got the podium she started the usual ritual.

The ritual always started with the mayor telling them the story of Panem, the city that rose from the ashes of what once used to be North America. Most of the people in the square have heard the story so many times now that they know it by heart. Minutes pass with more talking about former victors, about how glorious Panem, the Capital, is and then finally, Effie walked over to the little podium.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds ever be in your favor!" She started with a happy smile.

"Ladies first!"

Everyone in the square held their breaths as she reached her hand into the glass globe with the parcels. She kept her hand in the globe for an excessively long time, and then she finally pulled out a lot.

She stared out at the audience and smiled.

"Sarah Walker!"

"No!" Chuck whispered and looked over at Sarah.

She was really beautiful in a white dress and her hair in a pony tail. She looked shocked but determined. Their eyes met, and she looked at him with a sad smile before she slowly made her way up to the stage.

"Any volunteers?" Effie asked the audience.

No one volunteered.

Chuck wanted to run over to her, to hug her, he wanted to pause time and just hold her tightly and never let her go. He felt ashamed of himself. He hadn't even thought about Sarah's name getting called, he had only been thinking of himself, and now Sarah was going to the Hunger Games, and she was probably never coming back.

He remembered the day he'd met her, they had both been so young then

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><p><strong>Four years earlier<strong>

"_Chuck? Chuck!" Ellie yelled at him from the kitchen. _

"_Yeah what is it?"_

"_I need you to come here quickly and bring some boiled water!" Chuck went down to the kitchen and found a middle aged man with a large wound lying on the table. That was nothing unusual, since Ellie now was working part time at the pharmacy, and most people in district 12 were too poor to go to the real doctor._

"_Yeah of course" he said and quickly went to get a pot. _

"_Is he going to be ok?" He heard a girl voice ask. He turned around. A girl that appeared to be about his age was standing in the middle of the room. She had blonde hair with blue eyes, and she wore military-green pants and a white sweater. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen._

"_Yeah I think so, the wound doesn't seem to be that deep."_

_The girl sighed in relief and sat down next to her father while Ellie continued to examine his wound. Chuck gave her the pot with the water and sat down in the chair on the other side of the room. After a few minutes Ellie suddenly stopped._

"_I'm sorry, but I have to ask. Is this some kind of an animal bite?" _

_The girl looked uncomfortable and glanced nervously at the window as to check if anyone was there. "Yes." She whispered. "He hunts, and I know that it's illegal but please don't tell the peacekeepers!" She pleaded._

"_I promise I won't "Ellie told her and continued to ask her questions about what kind of an animal it was, but Chuck didn't listen to them. All he could do was to stare at this beautiful new girl._

_After they'd left, Ellie told Chuck that the wounded man needed medication every second day. Chuck took this opportunity to visit the girl and offered to go give the man his medication every time. _

_The first time he'd been so nervous that he almost had left the medicine outside her door and left. But he found the courage to knock on her door and to stay there until she opened it. _

_When she opened it she looked suspiciously at him. "Who are you?"_

"_Wow! This really starts great! She doesn't even remember me!" Chuck thought to himself. _

"_Umh, I'm Chuck, I have your father's medication" He said to her, while he showed her the little bottle of pills._

"_Oh!" She looked eased and moved so that he could get in. "I'm sorry if I seemed a bit tense, but you never know, right?" She smiled at him and he felt his heart melting like butter in the sun._

"_Right." He said back._

_She made her way through the kitchen in to her father's bedroom. Chuck looked around and realized that the house looked almost exactly like his home. But almost all of the homes in the Seam looked exactly the same. _

_He gave her father the medication and told him what Ellie had said, and then the girl followed him back to the door. _

_"Thank you so much" she said and gave him a quick hug. _

_"Oh you know" Chuck said, happily surprised by her hug, "I'm just happy to help._

_He turned around and started walking away from her house, when he realized something. He turned around again. _

_"Hey, what's your name?"_

"_It's Sarah" She smiled. "And yours?"_

"_Chuck" He said and smiled back. _

_A month after that, they were inseparable. Sarah showed him the woods and he showed her what it was like to have a friend. They would sit up late at night, discussing everything. They could have deep talks about both of their mothers abandoning them, they could talk (though very quietly) about how much they hated the Capital and the games, or they could talk about simple things, like the weather. They knew each other better than anyone else, and everyone knew that they were in love._

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><p>Chuck watched heartbroken as she made her way up to the stage. This just couldn't be happening! Not now! What about their future, the one that he had been hoping that they would share?<p>

He was so completely stuck in the horrible thought of Sarah joining the Hunger Games so that he didn't even have time to worry for himself.

"Chuck Bartowski!" Effie cried out to the audience.

Chuck just stood there, completely frozen. What had she just said?

"NO! Chuck!" He heard Ellie scream in panic. "NO!" She screamed again.

Chuck turned around and looked at her. She looked so fragile, trying to run to him, with Devon holding her in a tight grip. She desperately tried to reach to him, but after a while she gave up and fell sobbing in to Devon's arms. Devon looked at him with sad eyes and a face filled with sympathy. Chuck turned around again and looked over at Morgan who looked just as miserable as Chuck felt.

"It's ok, you can do this" Morgan whispered quietly to him, but the sadness in his eyes revealed that he wasn't too sure about that.

Chuck nodded and pretended to agree with him, but as he made his way up to the stage and shook Sarah's hand he looked around the square carefully, because he knew that that was the last time he would ever see it. Sarah needed to survive the games, and Chuck knew what he had to do in order for her to survive. It was strange, but he almost felt eased. Now he knew that he could do something, that he actually could help her. They looked each other in the eyes and Chuck knew that he had made the right decision.

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><p><strong>Soooo?<strong>

**What did you guys think? Did you like Chuck and Sarah in district 12? **

**Even if you didn't PLEASE leave a review!**


	2. Chuck versus the train

**Hi again! So I'm going to try to make this into a multichapter story! Yay! I really just had the idea of the first chapter so we'll see how the rest of this story plays out… **

**English is still not my first language, so I again apologize for all the grammar errors!**

**This chapter's quick lesson:**

**Haymitch:**** Haymitch is a former winner from district 12, and he acts as Sarah's and Chuck's mentor before the games, and during the games he can give them gifts from sponsors. Haymitch is described as a man that is rarely sober, and that doesn't care very much about the tributes that he is supposed to teach.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games.**

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><p>He walked slowly through the train's rocking carriages. Even though he was on a train it was the most incredible place that he had ever been. Everything was so… so automatic. Back home they didn't have a bathtub or a shower, and here he had both. He got clean clothes everyday and he had about five personal assistants, doing whatever he wanted them to do. Not that he would ever ask them to do anything, that felt wrong.<p>

And that wasn't even the best part. The food was amazing! He could eat as much as he wanted, anytime he wanted to!

Just that second Effie yelled from the kitchen:

"Chuck, Sarah, Haymitch! Dinner is served!"

He went on over to the food wagon and found Effie, Sarah and Haymitch already seated at the table. Sarah. They hadn't had time to talk after the reaping and neither Haymitch nor Effie knew about their situation.  
>"So, tell me a bit about yourselves." Effie said, pointing at Chuck and Sarah.<p>

He glanced quickly at her, but she made no move to start talking.  
>"Well?" Effie said demandingly. "I'm not dangerous!" she said and laughed.<br>"My name is Chuck Bartowski and I live in the Seam. My family is my sister, Ellie, and…"  
>"Oh, the girl who screamed so much at the reaping?" Effie interrupted him interested.<br>"Umh, yeah, that was her."

She nodded thoughtfully while chewing, as if she was slowly trying to preserve the new information she'd just learned.  
>"And what about you Sarah? Any siblings? Maybe a boyfriend?"<br>Sarah sat quietly and watched him. What was she thinking?

Then she rose quickly.  
>"I'm sorry, I just… I can't do this."<br>She walked away without another word. Chuck made an attempt to get up and go after her, but Haymitch's hand stopped him.  
>"Leave her alone, it's better that way." he said, looking genuinely sad, before he let go of Chuck's hand, to once again take a sip from his wine.<br>Chuck sat down again, and tried to eat some of the amazing food: fried venison with mashed potatoes, veal with baked potato, spinach soup with croutons and sour cream, and ice-cream in every flavor anyone could ever ask for.  
>But nothing went down. It was as if he had a knot in his stomach.<p>

He suddenly felt nauseous. He thanked for the meal and went to his room. He hesitated a few seconds outside Sarah's door, maybe he should go in and ask her how she felt? He decided it was best to leave her alone right now. It was tough enough as it was, without having to think about what would happen to them now.  
>He lay down on his bed, thinking back over the past days, I felt like a year had passed since that morning. Everything had been normal then. He had gone up, washed, and dressed himself. Then he and Ellie had had breakfast together, and they had talked about that this was their last reaping ever. And then Devon had come by and wished him good luck, and he'd brought flowers for Ellie.<br>Ellie, Devon, Morgan. What were they doing right now? Ellie was probably devastated. He hoped that Devon could be strong for her. And what about Morgan? Stupid, funny, immature Morgan. His best friend since kindergarten. They were not that much alike each other, but as they say, opposites attract. How would they react when he died?

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><p>He tried to sleep, but quickly realized that it was impossible. How could he sleep when he knew where he was going?<br>He stopped when he saw her a little further away in the wagon. She sat in one of the armchairs, with a cup in one hand and her gaze fixed somewhere in the distance.

"Hey you." He said and sat down in the chair next to her.  
>"Hi."<br>They looked at each other for a while. Both trying to figure out what was going on in the other persons head.

"Do you want the rest of my chocolate? I'm full. "She asked and held out the cup at him.  
>"Thanks." He said and grabbed it.<p>

Silence filled the room again and he studied her face, trying to find any emotions, but he couldn't find any. She was so hard to read, she always had been, even to him. But she was probably just sad, it had been a tough day, with all the tears and goodbyes. Saying goodbye to Morgan and Devon was really hard, but saying goodbye to his sister had been unbearable. Watching her cry and beg the peacekeepers not to do this to him, and then refusing to leave when they told her to. It had been a tough day.

Her voice interrupted his thoughts.  
>"What about us now?"<br>He didn't have to ask what she meant, the question had been like a wall between them ever since the reaping.  
>He knew what he was going to do, but he couldn't tell her, she would never agree to it.<br>"I don't know." he answered her monotonous.  
>It went silent again.<br>"Maybe we should just ... stop." she said.  
>"Stop?"<br>"You know, just stop spending time together. It just makes everything much harder. Maybe we should just focus right now."  
>She saw his sad face and immediately became angry.<br>"Do you think I want it like this? Do you think I want to stop being with you? I... I ..." The anger was gone and tears filled her eyes. She was shaking and he took her in his arms.  
>"I love you." she finished, sobbing.<br>"And I love you." he replied and kissed her.

They both closed their eyes, but if they would have watched, they would have seen the big mountains starting to appear outside the windows. The mountains indicating that they were getting closer to the Capitol. That they were getting closer to the games, and closer to their deaths.

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><p><strong>Soooo? Is it exciting enough? I'm a pretty busy person, and right now there's a lot in school, so updates might take a while sometimes. But I promise I'll try to give you new chapters as fast as I can! Also, I don't want this story to be exactly like the book, so if you guys have any ideas then maybe you could send me a message!<strong>

**Please leave a review and tell me what you guys think!**


	3. Sarah versus the ring

**Hi guys! So I saw The Hunger Games on a sneak preview on mars 22nd. It was AMAZING! I loved all of the actors/actresses portrayals of the characters and I loved all of the scenes! For those of you who haven't seen it yet, go see it!**

**Now on to this story…. I have an idea to how this story is going to play out, but there are a whole lot of question marks to! So if any of you have an idea, then please send me a message! And this chapter is going to be Sarah's POV, to see what's going on in her head!**

**I again apologize for any grammar errors…**

**I just want to take a minute to say thank you to everyone who has favorited/alerted/reviewed this story! It makes such a difference, and it really keeps me going!**

**This chapter's quick lesson for those of you who haven't read/seen the Hunger Games:**

**Effie:**** She lives in the Capital. Her job is to take care of the tributes from district 12 and to make sure that they are where they're supposed to be (lame explanation, I know)**

**Training center:**** The tower where all of the tributes lives before the games. They also train here. Every district has their own floor.**

**Renewal center:**** All of the tributes need a bit of a makeover. In the renewal center they get their hair done, their eybrowses plucked etc.**

**I know that this explanation sucks, but it's just a rough draft. I instead recommend all of you to read the book. It's awesome!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own The Hunger Games or Chuck.**

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><p>Her room in the training center was gigantic. She tried to measure it with her eyes, and estimated that it was about four times as big as her whole house back home. Back home. The words tasted bitter in her mouth. How could this have happened? How could she leave her father alone? What would happen to him now? Who would take care of him if he got sick, and who would hunt with him in the woods? Not her anyways, that's was one thing that was sure.<p>

She turned and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She gasped. Was that really her?  
>She had spent the whole day at the renewal center, and once there, she had been given a total makeover. Her hair was now soft and shiny, her nails filed to perfection. Her eyebrows were plucked and her arms and legs were waxed.<br>She looked at herself again. She was actually really beautiful. She looked so perfect, so flawless, and she hated it. She hated being the Capitals little puppet. Doing whatever they wanted, looking the way they wanted her to. Everything felt so wrong. It felt wrong to just agree and follow without fighting back. It felt wrong to smile and to suck up to all the people that were going to cheer when she died.

She sighed and lay down on the big bed. Her skin was still sore after the waxing and she hadn't slept that much since the reaping.

Her eyelids got heavier and she could feel the long-awaited sleep creeping in.

"Sarah! Chuck! Time to meet your stylists!" Effie cried from the living room.  
>Oh crap, the stylists. She had completely forgotten. She sighed again and stood up slowly. She had no desire at all to meet her so-called stylist. The clothes that the kids from district twelve got to wear were always horrible anyway. She sat down on the bed again, and thought that she at least could demonstrate a bit against the regime by being late.<p>

Suddenly she heard a light knock on the door.  
>"Come in" she yelled angrily, and thought that it was probably Effie, coming to scold her.<br>A dark-skinned young man opened the door. He looked very different from everyone else in the Capital, instead of wearing those awful wigs and terrible clothes, he actually looked quite normal. He had no wig, he had normal clothes, and the only makeup he wore was a light eye liner in gold.

"Hi Sarah, I'm Cinna, your stylist. Is it okay if I come in? He asked gently.

"Umh okay." she replied, surprised at being asked first. Everyone else there just stormed into her room without ever caring about whether she wanted it or not.  
>The man walked up to her and sat down on the bed beside her.<br>"I'm sorry that this happened to you Sarah." he said earnestly.  
>"Sorry? I thought we came here for your entertainment." she responded before she could stop herself. But he didn't get mad. Instead he just watched her as if he was trying to read her mind.<p>

"So tonight they have the tribute parade. They take you out and show you off to the world."

"So you're here to make me look pretty?" she asked straightforward.

"I'm here to help you make an impression." He answered factually."Now usually they dress people in the clothes from their districts." He continued.

"Yeah, we're always coalminers."She agreed.

"Yeah, but I don't want to do that. I want to do something that they're going to remember. Did they explain about trying to get sponsors?"

"I'm not the friendly type" She explained to him while she fiddled with her mother's old ring. That ring was the only thing she had left from her mother, a beautiful golden ring with small diamonds embedded in silver covers. It was also the one belonging that she was the most afraid of loosing.

"We'll see." He answered, in a way that made her suspect that he wasn't telling her the whole truth.

"Now follow me."

She followed him out of her room, away to a corridor that she hadn't been in before. He stopped outside a big yellow door.  
>"Wait here."<br>He disappeared through the door and was gone for a while. She was almost beginning to believe that he wasn't coming back when he finally opened the door again. In his hand he held a black outfit and a pair of black shoes.  
>"Is that what I'm going to wear tonight?" She wondered.<br>He nodded.

"Well at least I don't have to be naked." She thought eased.

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><p>She walked carefully down the stairs, terrified of tripping. For several hours, she had been rouged, her nails painted, her hair fixed. Last but not least, they'd given her Cinna's outfit. It was much better than district twelve's usual costumes, but she couldn't really understand how it was related to mining. Judging by Cinna's secretive behavior though, there was something more with the outfit, but she couldn't figure out what.<p>

She walked into the grotesquely large kitchen and found him sitting on a green sofa. As usual, her heart started beating three times faster, but that wasn't a good feeling anymore. He turned around and their eyes met. He looked incredibly handsome, wearing the same outfit as she was. His curls were now a little shorter and you could really see the beautiful features in his face.

She stared into his chocolate-brown eyes and no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't resist the love in them.

He slowly walked up to her.

"Oh my god Sarah! You look amazing! I mean…. You always look amazing, you do, but…"He started babbling.

She smiled. "It's okay Chuck. Thank you." She took a look at him again. "You look pretty handsome yourself."  
>He blushed and looked away for a brief second. She looked at his red cheeks. How could she ever watch someone kill him without doing anything? He must be by far the nicest, most honest and cutest guy that has she had ever met. He was also her only friend, and the only person besides her father who she had ever been close to.<p>

"Chuuuuuck! Saaaaaarah! The parade is about to begin, you need to come here quickly! Effie shouted from the elevator.

Chuck rolled his eyes and she smiled. Even though she would have done anything to change their situation, it was still nice to have him there in all the craziness. He grabbed her hand and lead her to the elevator. Effie emitted a little snort when she saw their linked hands, but almost everything was inappropriate according to her.

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><p>Effie lead them to the ground floor of the renewal center. Once there, they were supposed to stand on a carriage drawn by two horses. Everywhere people were shouting orders to each other, running around and trying to get everything done in time.<p>

"What's happening?" she asked Chuck loudly, trying to drown out everyone else. He just shook his shoulders.

She actually felt kind of relieved when she noticed Cinna and Chuck's stylist Portia coming towards them. Cinna was from the Capital, but she was actually starting to like him. He could also tell them what was going on.

"So, Sarah, Chuck. Remember when we told you that we wanted to do something that everyone was going to remember?" Cinna asked them as he stopped beside their carriage.

They both nodded.

"Well here's the thing. Tonight, you're going to be on fire!" he said and showed them a little lighter that he had been hiding behind his back.

"Oh crap! He's not nice! This guy is nuts!" Sarah thought to herself. She caught Chuck's eye and he appeared to be having the same concerns as she had.

"On….On fire?" Chuck asked a little worried.

"There won't be any real flames of course. Just a small synthetic fire we have invented, Portia and I. It's no danger for you." Cinna replied calmingly.

"Fire is still fire" she thought, but Chuck seemed to buy it, and that helped.

Cinna and Portia helped them to set fire to their clothes. In the beginning she had trouble relaxing, and got ready to try to rip off her clothes at any second, but as time passed she realized that there wasn't any danger. She exhaled relieved and took a closer look at her clothes. Wow! It actually looked like she was on fire! She looked up at Chuck and took a step back in astonishment. He looked absolutely stunning with the big orange flames and the dramatic shadows thrown across his face. He looked at her with the same amazed look on his face.

Just that second their carriage started rolling and she had to grab Chuck's hand to prevent herself from falling. She was just about to release it when she heard Cinna's voice shouting at them from the audience.

"No! Keep it that way, it gets more dramatic! And remember to smile!"

They kept their hands linked and the carriage rolled out onto the street.

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><p>"Oh my god!"<p>

"Look at district 12!"

"They're on fire!"

"Can you see that?"

Shocked faces everywhere. People were staring and pointing at them. Sarah couldn't help but smile when she saw Effie's face. She looked like she was about to fall out of her chair, but she recovered quickly.

"That's my district! District 12 everyone! MY district!" She told everyone who wanted to listen.

When everyone has recovered from the sudden shock they start cheering. This was without doubt the best costumes ever in the history of the games, and everyone wanted to be a part of it.

"Chuck! Sarah! Go district twelve!"

Sarah located Cinna's face in the audience. He gave her a big smile. He didn't even have to say anything, she already knew it. Tonight, she and Chuck had made a huge success. She looked away again, and instead she looked at Chuck. He smiled at her and, for the first time since the reaping, she could return his smile.

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><p>"Come on, we're going to watch the replays of the parade!" Effie cried from the living room.<p>

Sarah sighed. She didn't want to see herself acting like a total idiot on some stupid parade. She really regretted her stupid behavior. What had happened to her? Standing there, smiling and waving like a total idiot. What was her father going to think, that she enjoyed being there?

She walked to the living room and sat down in the couch next to Chuck. He smiled at her and she got that feeling again. The feeling that she had always welcomed, but that was forbidden now.

"Excellent, you're here. Now let's start." Effie said heartily, and pressed the play button.

They watched as carriage after carriage rolled out on to the street. Some of the districts had really amazing clothes, but nothing compared to theirs. They looked so stunning, so magical. She couldn't look away, not even for a second. She watched in disgust as Sarah on the screen happily shook her hand. She watched as it went back and forth and realized that something was missing. Her mother's ring! She must've forgotten it at the renewal center!

"I need to go!" She said, and quickly ran to the elevator. She could hear the others calling after her, but she didn't wanted them to follow. They might have thought that she was strange, going back for a simple ring.

She walked the same way as she had done earlier that day, and five minutes later, she was at the renewal center. She was just about to enter the big hall, where all the carriages were, when two voices stopped her. She quickly hid behind a massive statue in marble, and she localized the source of the voices.

Two women were standing, each with a big brush in their hands, sweeping away all of the glitter and confectionary from the parade. She couldn't hear what they were saying, so she leaned closer.

"Did you hear about William's and Hanna's engagement?" One of them asked the other.

"I sure did! The wedding is going to be beautiful! I'm so happy for them, getting to spend their futures together, they're the perfect couple!" The other one responded excitedly.

"I know! And rumor has it she's already pregnant!"

The two women continued gossiping, but Sarah couldn't continue to listen. Marriage, kids, future. Three things that she couldn't have any longer.

She sat down on the cold floor. Who would she have gotten married to anyway? Chuck probably. She closed her eyes and an image of the two of them, her in a simple white dress, him in a black suit, flashed before her eyes. They looked so happy, so normal. Another picture showed up. This time they were in a kitchen, she and Chuck were cooking and laughing and two little kids were running around their legs. A little boy, with blond hair and brown eyes, and a little girl, with Chuck's brown curls and her blue eyes. Would that have been her future? Now she would never know.

She opened her eyes again and realized that tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she wiped them away with her hand. She had to focus now, and crying wouldn't help her.

She breathed slowly, in and out, and thought about him. She thought about every memory that they had shared. She thought about his smile, the Bartowski-eyebrow dance, his chocolate-brown eyes, she thought about how he looked when he listened to her, and how he looked when he talked. Lastly she thought about his laugh. His laugh, that would always make her feel better, that would always make her feel like she was home… She thought about all of them for a long time, and then she said goodbye to them, one by one.

When she got up again, she was empty. Empty of emotions and empty of love. She looked for the ring, but she couldn't find it. What did it matter anyway? It wasn't like a stupid ring was going to help her win this.

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><p><strong>Sooooo? What did you guys think? I want to apologize for being a bit of a copy-cat to the real story, but it was hard to do a different story before the games, since they always have the same ritual.<strong>

**Please leave a review and tell me what you guys think, it means a lot!**


	4. Chuck versus the gamemakers

**So….. Chapter four here we go! Once again thank you for your reviews! It really keeps me going!**

**I saw The Hunger Games one more time this weekend, and I still love it! I can't wait for Catching fire! I mean seriously, how are we supposed to wait until November 2013? That's a looooong time!**

**Now onto this story…. This chapter is going to be both Chuck and Sarah's POV, because I wanted to explore both of their feelings a bit more before the games. I'm also messing it up a bit if you compare to the book, because the training and the interviews are going to be in the wrong order.**

**Also, I changed the rating to T, because after all, this is still a Hunger Games-inspired story.**

**This chapter's quick lesson:**

**Caesar Flickerman: He interviews all of the tributes, and is especially famous for changing his hair color for every new game.**

**Gamemakers: The gamemakers inspects the tributes as they train and take notes. All of the tributes also have a private show for the game-makers, where they show off their skills. Later, the gamemakers gives every tribute a number from 1-12, depending on how far they think that the tribute is going to make it in the games. 1=bad and 12=very good.**

**Careers: Most often the tributes from district one, two, three and four (sometimes tributes from other districts too). In these districts, participating in the games is considered an honor, and the kids there train their whole lives to go to the games. These tributes are called careers. Careers are also more likely to win the games, since they have a bigger skill-set.**

**I once again apologize for any grammar errors, and I kind of want to apologize for this whole chapter, because it didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games**

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><p>"So Sarah…. Tell me a bit about yourself."<p>

She stared terrified into the creepily blue eyes of Caesar Flickerman. Tell them something about her? What could she tell them anyway, that her father work as an illegal hunter? Hardly.

They had just started her interview. Every tribute got three minutes alone with Caesar. During those three minutes, you had to try your hardest to make them remember you. This was very important if you wanted to get sponsors during the games. But how was she going to behave? Was she going to play smart, or maybe she could tell them that she was fast?

She tried to remember what the other tributes had done. The boy from district two, John Casey, had barely said a word during his whole interview, but she knew that he would get sponsors. He was probably a 6'6, and he looked really deadly. The girl from district one, Carina, had obviously been trying to seem sexy. She had flirted uncontrollably with both Caesar and the audience, but Sarah wouldn't doubt for a second that she was just as deadly as Casey.

She looked back at Caesar and he smiled encouraging.

"Umh…. Well my name is Sarah…" She started.

Caesar laughed loudly and the audience laughed with him. It wasn't meant as a joke, but they didn't have to know that.

Caesar seemed to understand that she was having problems and helped her out.

"I just loved your outfit at the parade Sarah, and your outfit tonight is also magnificent! Tell us a bit about your stylist."

She looked down at her dress. This one was blue, and it looked almost like the little blue part on a flame, where the flame is the warmest. It was strapless, with wavy ruffles, and ended just above her knees. It was absolutely perfect.

"Well my stylist is Cinna." She started, thankful for the change of subject. "He's amazing, he really is. He and Portia, Chuck's stylist, came up with the fire-idea together. They're an amazing team."

"They sure are! I almost had a heart attack when I saw you and Chuck. I think most of us had! Am I right?" He asked the audience, and the crowd went wild again. He continued to talk about different reactions to her and Chuck's outfits, and then the little bell rang, indicating that her time was up. She bowed out, and felt thankful that Caesar had saved her. She had always had trouble with the talking part, and doing an interview that was being direct-broadcast to every household in Panem wasn't easy for her.

She watched as Chuck sat down next to Caesar. He didn't appear nervous at all, he could just as well have seated to eat dinner.

Sarah could see how all of the girls on the front row almost fainted when they saw Chuck. Every year the teen-girls (and sometimes older people too) in the Capital picked one tribute that looked handsome and they became almost addicted to him. The most famous tribute that had ever gotten picked was probably Finnick Odair. He won the games about 20 years ago, but everyone still rememberd him clearly. Finnick was extremely handsome and almost all of the female-inhabitants (and some man-inhabitants) fell in love with him. This year though, it seemed like they had picked Chuck.

Sarah felt a twinge of jealousy, but she quickly shook it away.

"Focus Sarah." She thought to herself and instead she looked back at Chuck.

"Chuck, Chuck, Chuck… Tell us everything about yourself!" Caesar started solemnly.

"Well, there's really not that much to tell. I'm eighteen, I'm pretty good with technology, and I live with my sister Ellie."

"That was brief!" Caesar laughed. "Tell us more about your sister! She was the brunette girl at the reaping, right?"

Sarah saw something that almost looked like pain in Chuck's eyes, but before she could be sure, it was gone again.

"Well, she's three years older than me, but we're very tight. My mom left and my dad died, so we had it pretty tough for a while, and all we had was each other. But we made it, and we came out stronger and closer than ever."

Now you could hear sobs from the audience, and even Caesar looked woeful. Chuck had won the audience's heart in less than thirty seconds.

She looked at Chuck with wide eyes. How could he be so open I front of these people? How could he tell them his life-story when he didn't even know them? Sarah had always envied Chuck the ability to be so open, and she had never learned to do it herself.

"What a beautiful story!" Caesar said and the tremendous applause from the audience showed that they agreed.

She looked around and saw that many of the other tributes were looking furiously at Chuck. Sure, the audience had liked some of them, but the audience loved Chuck. She couldn't help but smile at their jealousy. Who would ever have thought that district twelve could be better than district one in something that was games-related?

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><p>Chuck and Caesar had left the serious talk, and were now joking with each other. They started with comparing district twelve and the Capital, and ended up discussing Caesar's different hair-colors. Both the audience and Caesar laughed cordially.<p>

When about fifty seconds of Chuck's interview remained, Caesar asked the one question that Sarah so desperately had feared.

"So, Chuck, is there a special girl out there?"

Chuck was quiet for a moment, and looked like he was thinking intensively for a few seconds before he finally answered.

"Yeah, there is this one girl, but…" He paused. "But we're just friends and I think that she wants it to stay that way."

Sarah looked angrily at the girls in the front row, as they squealed with excitement. Were they stupid or what? Were they seriously thinking that he was talking about them? They hadn't even met him! She could feel the jealously coming back and quickly went blank. No feelings, no emotions.

"Oh tell us Chuck! Tell us about her!" Caesar was almost as excited as the girls.

"Umh, okay. She's smart and funny. When I'm having a bad day she always cheers me up. She's also really beautiful. She's perfect."

Everyone in the audience went "Awwwwwww" and Caesar sighed happily.

"Listen to me Chuck, here's what you're going to do. You go out there, and you win this thing, and when you get back, she'll have to go out with you."

The audience roared in agreement, but Chuck had the same sad expression on his face.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." He answered sadly.

"Why not?" Caesar asked puzzled.

There was a moment of silence, and Chuck looked like he was trying to make up his mind.

"Because she came her with me."

There was once again a moment of silence when his words sank in, but then everyone turned and looked at Sarah. She looked up slowly and saw her own face enlarged on every screen. She blushed and quickly looked down again.

"I don't know what to say." Caesar said, sincerely distressed. "I'm sorry." He said to Chuck and just that second the bells rang, indicating that Chuck's time was up.

* * *

><p>"Sarah! Time for breakfast!"Effie yelled from the kitchen. She moaned and opened her eyes. Effie Trinket could easily work as an alarm clock.<p>

She took a quick shower and walked down to the kitchen. To her relief, Chuck wasn't there. It had been very chilly between them ever since the interviews. They hadn't spoken to each other at all, except to say things like "Can you pass me the butter?"

"Oh good you're here!" Effie said briskly. "As you may already know, it's your last training day today, which also means that it's time for your solo performance for the gamemakers."  
>Sarah sighed. For the past three days, she and the other tributes had been training with experts in various subjects. They had gotten to go to different stations and have practiced everything from tying knots to deal with spears.<p>

She ate quickly and followed Effie to the room where they were supposed to wait until it was their turn to perform.

"Effie?"

"Yes Sarah?"

"Where's Chuck?"

"He went here earlier than we did, so he's probably waiting here somewhere."

"Okay thanks." She sat down in a chair and made herself comfortable. She was going to be there a while. They always started with district 1, first the boy, and then the girl. Being a girl from district 12, she would be the last one to perform for the gamemakers.

It turned out that Effie was right. After a few minutes she found him sitting in a sofa on the other side of the room. They didn't say anything to each other, and the whole situation felt rather awkward. When the girl from district eleven, Rue, left for her performance they were the only ones left, and Chuck looked like he was about to start talking, but she quickly interrupted him, setting the tone for the conversation.

"Chuck… I just want you to know that the kiss, on the train…It wasn't real. My emotions we're in a total rollercoaster. I didn't know what I was doing."

He was quite for a few seconds but then he slowly nodded.

"Okay… I guess that both of us we're a bit strange after the reaping."

"Exactly." She replied, but every cell in her body wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that she knew exactly what she had been doing.

"Sarah are you mad at me? Cause if you are, then I totally get it. It was wrong of me to say those things at the interview without asking you first, but please don't do the silence-treatment, I just can't stand it." He says sorrowfully. "I mean I get it if you don't feel the same way as I do, but we used to be at least friends. I don't want to lose that to."He finished.

His sadness broke her heart, but she had to be honest with him.

"Chuck I just think that we need to stop this, whatever this is. We're not here for vacation, we came here to die! It's just… We need to stop pretending like everything's normal, cause it's not. Both of us need to focus right now!" She realized that she was almost screaming and quickly stopped. She had already said more than enough.

_"Chuck Bartowski."_ Crackled the speaker.

"Okay." He said monotonously and rose. "I'm sorry." He said, and then he disappeared through the big doors leading to the training hall, leaving her all alone with only the memory of his hurt expression as company.

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><p><strong>Chuck's POV<strong>

He walked slowly in to the training hall. He couldn't focus at all on the performance, all he could think about was his and Sarah's conversation.

"_I just want you to know that the kiss, on the train… It wasn't real."_

"_I didn't know what I was doing"_

"_We need to stop this, whatever this is."_

Her words kept echoing in his head, and he didn't even notice that the gamemakers were staring at him.

"Hrm hrm."

He woke up from his thoughts and looked up.

"You may start now." One of the gamemakers informed him.

He nodded and walked up to the knot-tying station. He had always been great at making traps and snares, Sarah had taught him to do that when she showed him the woods. They were the perfect team. She could hunt with almost anything, a spear, an arrow, a knife, and he knew almost all of the edible plants and berries.

He showed them a couple of snares, and then he moved on to the weightlifting-station. This was his secret weapon. Most people knew that he was strong, but very few knew how strong.

When someone was injured, and they couldn't make it to Ellie themselves, he was always the one that had to carry them. Devon had seen Chuck's potential to "look awesome" as Devon expressed it, and had given him a few training tips. All of this had resulted in a strength that Chuck never knew that he was capable of.

He grabbed a really heavy ball and easily threw it a couple of meters. Then he grabbed an even heavier ball and threw that one away too. He looked up at the gamemakers again, searching for any kind of reaction, when he realized that they weren't even watching. Some of them were chatting with each other, some of them were eating and some of them were drinking, but no one was watching.

He was just about to leave when he heard someone call after him.

"No, wait!"

He turned around and realized that someone actually was watching him. A woman who he hadn't seen before was standing by herself at the edge of the gamemakers podium. He couldn't see her face, she was completely covered by her gamemaker's coat, but she sounded very interested in him.

"Can you throw that one too?" She asked, and pointed at the heaviest ball.

"I can try." He answered and walked up to the weightlifting station again. He bended down and grabbed the ball, damn it was heavy , and then he threw it away with all of his strength. It landed impressively far away.

"Thank you, you may go now." The woman said, with an undertone of satisfaction. Chuck looked up at the podium again, and realized that all of the gamemakers were looking at him with impressed expressions on their faces. He got their attention at last. He walked out of the training hall with a content smile on his face.

* * *

><p>As he took the elevator up, he wondered how Sarah was doing. He hoped that her shooting amazed them enough to make them pay attention the her.<p>

He thought about that woman. Why did she help him? Why would she tell him to try that last ball too? No matter how much he thought about, it didn't make any sense. The gamemakers weren't supposed to help the tributes.

The elevator "dings", indicating that he was on the twelfth floor. He pressed the "Open doors" button and stepped off. Both Effie and Haymitch were waiting outside.

"How did it go? Where they happy with your performance? What did you show them? Witch number do you think that you're going to get?" Effie was almost jumping up and down as she terrorized him with questions.

"Calm down Effie." Haymitch said tired. "Let the boy breath for god's sake!"

They walked to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Sarah arrived after about 15 minutes, and then Cinna and Portia arrived too.

"So, tell us. How horrible where you?" Haymitch started.

He nodded in Chuck's direction. "You, start."

"We'll I made a few traps and snares, and then I threw some balls. Nothing impressive really."

Haymitch nodded. "And how did they react?"

"They didn't react at all. When I came in there, they were all so drunk that they could barely stand up."

Effie's hand flied to her mouth, "The gamemakers? Drunk? But that's against the rules! They are not allowed to drink! Why would they do that?"

Haymitch putted his arm around her shoulder too quickly for her to evade, "Because, Effie, they're the game-makers! They can do whatever they want." He slapped Chuck on the shoulder. "What happened next?"

"Well, I was just about to leave when one of the gamemakers called after me. She asked me if I could throw one more ball, so I did. Then she said that I could leave."

"She asked you to do that? That's strange. The gamemakers aren't supposed to talk to the tributes at all." Haymitch said thoughtfully. "That could even be considered as help."

"I know, I was really surprised to."

Haymitch was quite for another minute, thinking about what he had just heard, but then he turned to Sarah.

"And what about you sweetheart? How did it go?"

Chuck could see by Sarah's expression that she hated her new nickname, but she swallowed her poisonous answer and instead she told them about her performance.

"Well in the beginning it was just like Chuck's. They barely looked at me at all. So I shot some arrows, threw some knives and threw some spears. But then it all changed when I showed them my secret weapon."

"What's your secret weapon Sarah?" Portia asked interested. But then she quickly looked at Chuck. "Oh I'm sorry, I mean if you don't want him to know."

Sarah considered it for a few seconds.

"No, I'm okay with him knowing."

"So what is your secret weapon?"

"It's actually hand to hand combat." She answered, a little proud.

"Hand to hand combat?" Chuck thought to himself. She had never told him that she knew hand to hand combat!

"Where did you learn that?" Cinna asked interested.

"Well, my father's a bit paranoid, and he wanted me to be able to defend myself. So he thought me."

"What did the gamemakers do?" Haymitch asked.

"Well they told me that I could fight the self-defense teacher, so I did. And I won, easily.

"Wow that's amazing, good job Sarah!" Effie said happily. Who knew, maybe this year one of her tributes would win and she could end up with a better district next year?

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><p>They were sitting together in the living room, anxiously waiting for their results. They showed the scores in order of District. The Careers did excellently, as usual, all pulling in eights, nines, and even tens. They go up through the rest of the districts, and the further up they went, the worse he felt. Not for himself, but for everyone else. Everyone from districts five to ten pulled in fours, fives, and an occasional six. He wondered why no one ever called the Careers out for having trained beforehand even though it was against the rules.<p>

He was impressed and relieved when little Rue from 11 pulled in a seven. She must have some skills that fascinated the Gamemakers, and it made him happy. She, most likely, wouldn't get killed in the bloodbath. Maybe her skill was one that would give her a fighting chance in this thing. His name flashed on the screen, and he fighted the urge to look away, just as his name is replaced with the number eight.

"Eight?" He was shocked. He thought, even if he got everyone's attention at last, that he would pull in a five, six at the highest. But he got an eight. Some of his nerves eased away, but there was still Sarah's score to come. Her name flashed… an eleven! Sarah pulled an eleven! Their scores combined beat out the combined scores from all of the Career districts! Wonder how they were feeling about that?

Cinna, Portia Haymitch and Effie congratulate them both. According to Effie, these were the best scores that anyone of her tributes ever had gotten. She almost looked like she was going to cry.

Ha walked up to Sarah. She looked like she was about to hug him, but then she changed her mind and instead she shook his hand.

"Congratulations Chuck. I'm really glad for you." She said earnestly.

"Congratulations to you to! I mean an eleven? That's really good!"

She smiled at him and went to talk to Cinna.

Shaking hands? When did their relationship get so formal?

"Sarah, Chuck. Go to bed now, you're going to need all the sleep you can get! Tomorrow's a big, big, big day!" Effie said quickly.

A big, big, big day. Well that was one way of putting it. Tomorrow was the day when he had to start fighting to stay alive. Tomorrow was the day when they would arrive at the arena. Tomorrow was the day when the games began.

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><p>He opened his eyes and realized that sleep wasn't an option. It was probably two am and in a couple of hours, they were going to the arena.<p>

He putted his slippers on and sneaked down to the kitchen. He grabbed some milk from the fridge and decided to make some hot chocolate.

"Couldn't sleep huh? I couldn't sleep before my games either."

He almost dropped the milk-package and turned around. Haymitch was sitting by himself at the kitchen table, but Chuck hadn't notice him before.

"Did I scare you?" He chuckled, and Chuck noticed the little vodka-bottle next to him.

"I need to ask you a favor." He said, and sat down next to Haymitch.

"You know that I can't make them change their minds. You're going to the arena tomorrow, whether you like it or not."

"No, it's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"It's about Sarah."

"What about her?"

"I meant what I said at my interview. I meant every single word."

Something that almost looked like pain flashed across Haymitch's face.

"And what do you want me to do about that?"

He hesitated a few seconds, but if anyone was going to know his plan then it had to be Haymitch.

"Listen, I know that I'm not going home from here. Iknow that. So why not die trying to help her?"

Haymitch stared at him with some emotion he couldn't decipher. Pity, or maybe sympathy. But before he could even question it, Haymitch's eyes were hard again.

"Well, if that's the way you want to play it, I'm not going to go against you. But I should make it clear here and now – at the beginning of the game, I have a choice to make. Who am I going to try to save?"

Before he could answer his own question, Chuck did it for him, "Sarah. You're going to try to help her."

Haymitch stared at him for a few seconds.

"You're a fool." He said, grabbed his bottle and left the room, leaving Chuck all alone.

He made some chocolate, but he couldn't drink it, he had no appetite. All he could do was to look at the clock hanging on the wall.

Tick tock…

For every second, he was getting closer to the arena.

Tick tock…

For every second, he was getting closer to the bloodbath.

Tick tock…

For every second, he was getting closer to his death.

* * *

><p>"Are you ready?" Portia asked him gently.<p>

"Nope, but I will never be, so let's go." He answered and they walked together to the little cylinder-shaped tube.

Suddenly Portia threw herself into his arms.

"Chuck, no matter how hard it gets out there, remember, you're a fighter. You can do this, okay?"

He could see that she was close to tears.

"I will, I promise" He answered her, even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep that promise.

"Okay, good."

She leaned back again while she pulled herself together.

"_Tributes, you have one minute." _The speaker crackled.

He gave her one last smile, but it looked more like a nervous grimace, and stepped into his tube. After about sixty seconds it slowly started to rise, and he felt the panic setting in. He looked at Portia and she nodded. This was it.

Suddenly he fely a cold breeze playing with his hair, and then Claudius Templesmith's voice boomed around him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the eighty-fourth Hunger Games begin!

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><p><strong>Ladies and gentlemen… That's it! Well for now at least. <strong>

**I'm having a hard time trying to come up with ideas for the arena-chapters, and I would LOVE it if you could send me a message with your ideas! **

**PLEASE leave a review! It means so much to know what you guys think about this! **


	5. Sarah versus the music

**Hi! Chapter five here we go! **

**This chapter's quick lesson:**

**The Cornucopia:**** The Cornucopia is the place where the Games start. They have like a horn, filled with medications, tents, food, weapons and other stuff that the tributes wants/needs. So in the beginning, there's always a big fight (a big blood bath) between the tributes, because everyone wants the stuff inside the Cornucopia (most often the careers gets the most stuff).**

**Hovercrafts:**** The hovercrafts are like airplanes, but more modern. They pick up the bodies of the dead tributes.**

**I apologize for any grammar errors.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, the Hunger Games or the song Feeling Good.**

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><p>"<em>Ladies and gentlemen, let the eighty-fourth Hunger Games begin!"<em>

She blinked a few times, trying to accustom her eyes to the sudden brightness. Where was she? She looked around and some of her nerves eased away. The arena looked almost exactly like the woods outside district 12, almost exactly like home.

They were standing on a big meadow, near a big lake, surrounded by dense forest. In the middle of the meadow lay the Cornucopia, stately and shining in the sun, containing things worth dying for. She looked longingly at it. Medications, tents, sleeping bags, food, water, weapons… Everything one could need to survive.

She looked at it again, and discovered a knife set hanging not too far away from her. Maybe she could do it? Haymitch's voice echoed in her head.

"_When you're at the Cornucopia you run, okay? I know that it's going to be extremely tempting, but you get out of there as fast as you can_, _and then you g_o _find water_."

She looked around at the other tributes. They were each standing on the same platform as she was, about one meter away from each other, forming a circle around the Cornucopia. She couldn't see him, but maybe it was better that way.

She was really fast, she had never told Haymitch about that. Maybe some of the other tributes were fast too, but she was smaller, and more flexible. Maybe she could just go there, take the knives, and thenrun away?

She had to make a decision quickly, because her time was running out. They had sixty seconds before the games started to get used to the arena and to come up with a plan. If you stepped of your platform before those sixty seconds had passed, you would get blown up.

_Ten, nine, eight, seven…_

She aimed at the knives and prepared to run.

"_Boom!"_

She took a deep breath and ran over to the Cornucopia. She could almost hear Haymitch's voice in her head, screaming "What are you doing?" but she didn't let it stop her. There was no way the sponsors would even consider helping her if she couldn't prove herself. So she dived right into the thick of things. There were two girls already dead when she reached the group.

Suddenly, someone had a hold of her leg and twisted it. She fell to the ground, and panic rose in her. No, she couldn't die yet.

"No!" The word was wrenched from her throat and she kicked her leg out from whoever it was' grasp. Still lying on the ground, she looked to her left and spotted the knives. She picked them up and tucked them into her jacket before someone pounced on top of her. It was the girl from District 1, Carina.

"You've got some of my knives, Walker."She said, with a viciously, playfull tone. Carina raised her knife, ready to drive it into Sarah. As she made her move, Sarah made hers. She started to thrust her knife downward, aiming for Sarah's heart, and Sarah twisted her torso out of the way just in time. Her knife drove into the ground, and Sarah grabbed Carina by the shoulders, and, using all of her strength, she threw Carina off of her.

Carina growled loudly, and tried to push her back to the ground, but Sarah was too quick for her. She got to her feet and ran away as fast as she could, with the knives safely tucked inside her jacket.

* * *

><p>She sat down exhausted on a tree stump. She had been walking for nearly seven hours now, to get as far away from the Cornucopia as possible. She sighed and lay down.<p>

The sun shone on her skin and her sandpaper-dry tongue screamed for water.

Water, water, water… Even if she found water she had nothing to clean it with. It had only been seven hours, and she was already as good as dead.

"Boom!"

She rose quickly. What was that? But then she realized that it must be the cannons, releasing one bullet for every death. She counted them in her head.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven…

Eleven dead in seven hours. What if any of those bullets was for him?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone screaming.

"NO! Please I beg you! No…" The person was now sobbing.

Even though she knew that she shouldn't, she had to do something. The voice, which belongs to a girl, sounded so fragile and so helpless… So young and innocent.

She hurried, with her knives prepared, to the source of the sound. When she got there, she found the little girl from district 11, Rue, lying wrapped in a net. She looked so small, with her dark hair entangled to the net, and tears in her big brown eyes, desperately trying to get out of the net.

"So… How do you want to die?" Someone that Sarah couldn't see asked.

She quickly hid behind a bush and prepared to throw her knife.

"No please…"Rue sobbed.

"Don't cry, you're ruining all the fun. So, knife, an arrow, or maybe a spear? It's your choice."

Sarah watched as one of the careers, the girl from district 2, Maria, appeared on the other side of the little lawn where Rue lied. She remembered from training that Maria was really good with traps and snares, and now she had caught little Rue in one of them.

Maria plays with her blond wavy hair and sneered at Rue.

"Well if you don't want to decide, then I'll decide for you, I pick the…" But before she could tell Rue what she had picked, Sarah had thrown one of her knives right into Maria's head. She fell to the ground, and the cannon released a bullet.

"Boom!"

Rue turned surprised and discovered Sarah. She looked at her with eyes wide of surprise, but then she closed them again.

"Please make it quick" She pleaded to Sarah.

But Sarah surprised both Rue and herself when she instead walked up to Rue, and cutted the wires of the net.

Rue opened her eyes again, and looked questioning at Sarah.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I don't know." Sarah answered, but the she knew, and she couldn't tell anyone why.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, none of them knowing what to do next.

"Well goodbye, I guess." Sarah said after the long pause.

"Goodbye and thank you" Rue stood up and hugged her, and as soon as Rue had wrapped her little arms around her, Sarah knew that she wouldn't be able to leave the little girl alone again.

"You know what? It's still so early in the games, maybe we could be… maybe we could be allies or something." She said.

"Do you want to be allies with me?" Rue asked her utterly surprised.

"Yeah, of course. I mean you got a seven, you can't be that bad." She said jokingly, and Rue laughed.

They walked away from the little lawn, so the hovercraft could pick up Maria's body, and then they stopped when they get to a little stream. Sarah looked longingly at the water.

"You don't happen to have any salt, do you?" She asked Rue.

"I have salt." Rue replied happily, and gave Sarah the little white bottle.

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!"

Sarah quickly cleaned the water and thirstily drank several bottles. Rue laughed when she saw Sarah pouring bottle after bottle of water into her mouth.

"Are you hungry Rue?" Sarah asked her once she had finished drinking.

"A bit, but I haven't seen any berries or plants so far, and I don't have any weapons to hunt with."

"Well… Ta da!"

Sarah smiled as she saw Rue's happy expression when she showed her the knives.

"Oh! They must've been very hard to get! How did you get these?" Rue wondered.

"Well, let's just say that the girl from district one, she doesn't like me anymore."

Rue laughed and they started talking about their homes. Rue told her about her family, she was the oldest out of six siblings, and she protected them. She worked in an orchard when she wasn't in school, and her favorite thing in the world was music.

"Music?" Sarah asked surprised.

"Yeah, we used to sing a lot back home, and at work too. Music makes me feel happy, when I'm sad." Rue explained to Sarah. "Do you like music Sarah?"

"I guess so, but it's not a very big part of my life."

She remembered all those times when Chuck had wanted her to learn how to love music, all those afternoons, when life was simpler.

"_I can't believe you don't have a favorite song Sarah! Everyone has a favorite song!" Chuck said upset._

_She laughed, he was so cute, getting all upset about her not having a favorite song._

"_Chuck it doesn't matter, okay? Music has never really been a big part of my life."_

_This made him even more upset, and he dragged her back to his house, telling her that he was going to "change her whole perspective on things", but she just laughed._

"_Sit." Chuck told her and pointed at the same chair where he had sat the day they'd first met._

_She sat down obediently while she rolled her eyes, he could be so stubborn sometimes._

"_Close your eyes Sarah."_

_She closed them carefully, and suddenly music filled the room._

_**Birds flying high you know how I feel.**_

_**Sun in the sky you know how I feel.**_

_**Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel.**_

_**It's a new dawn.**_

_**It's a new day.**_

_**It's a new life**_

_**For me.**_

_**And I'm feeling good.**_

_She opened her eyes again and smiled._

"_Do you like it?"_

_She nodded. _

"_I do."_

* * *

><p>"Now it's your turn, tell me a bit about yourself Sarah" Rue said to her, as they sat down to eat the bird that they had just caught.<p>

"Umh okay, I live with my father, and my favorite thing in the whole world is to…" She had to stop herself, she had been really close to saying that her favorite thing in the whole world was to be with Chuck.

"You know what? I don't think I really have a favorite thing."

Just that second the National Anthem started to play, stopping any further conversation. Panem's emblem showed in the sky and they started showing the dead tributes.

_District 2: Girl: Maria_

_District 4: Girl: Cassie_

_District 5: Girl: Kara_

_District 5: Boy: Xander_

_District 6: Girl: Zia_

_District 6: Boy: Ray_

_District 7: Girl: Delia_

_District 7: Boy: Ramone_

_District 8: Boy: Cosmo_

_District 9: Girl: Saskia_

_District 10: Girl: Vita_

_District 10: Boy: Blaze._

She held hear breath, but his face didn't appear on the screen. He was still alive. She couldn't help but feel eased, he was out there, he was okay.

* * *

><p>"Sarah?"<p>

It was in the middle of the night and they lay close to each other in a forked branch, trying to keep each other warm.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Do you miss your dad?" Rue asked quietly.

"I do." Sarah whispered back.

There was silence again.

"Do you want to know why I saved you today?" She asked Rue.

Rue nodded.

"It's because you reminded me of my sister."

"I thought you didn't have any siblings."

"No, not know, but I used to, once. She looked a bit like you, with wavy hair and big honest eyes."

"What happened?"

"When she turned nine, she got sick, pneumonia, and there was nothing we could do. After she had died, my mom left, she couldn't handle it, and my dad became kind of absent."

"I'm so sorry." Rue said earnestly.

"It's okay, it was a long time ago, and I've learned that I won't help her by going around and mourning all the time. Now I can instead live and be happy for both of us."

Rue nodded, as if she was slowly trying to think through all of the things that Sarah had told her.

"That sounds like a smart idea." She stated after a while.

They lay down again and Rue quickly fell asleep, but Sarah remained awake. She had never told anyone about her sister, not even Chuck. She wondered why it was so easy for her to tell Rue, maybe because Rue reminded her of her sister, or maybe because this might be the last time she would ever have the opportunity to tell anyone that story.

She tried to sleep but she couldn't. She had killed someone that day, a human being. Maria had had a family, hoping for her to get home, maybe she had had siblings and a boyfriend to. She tried to shake away the thoughts of Maria. Sure, she had killed Maria, and took away her future, but she saved Rue. Rue had siblings and a family hoping for her to get home too, so maybe it didn't count? Kill one and save one, maybe it evened out?

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it! Hope u guys liked it! I know that the whole Sarah's sister part was a bit sad, but I got the idea, and then I really wanted to do it. I wanted Rue to look like either Sarah's sister, or Sarah's neighbor, but Sarah's sister fitted better to the story, with her mum leaving and everything. Hope it was ok! I know that I'm nagging, but PLEASE leave a review, it makes my day! <strong>


	6. Chuck versus the Cornucopia

**Hi! So first of all, I just want to apologize for the previous chapter (Sarah versus the music), because it was really horrible… I wrote it when I was really tired, and then I posted it, and now I regret the whole chapter… Well, I hope that this chapter is better! **

**Moving on, in this chapter we're going back to the start of the games again, but this time it's Chuck's POV… Hope y'all like it!**

**I want to apologize for any grammar errors in this chapter, and it's hard for me since I'm not a native speaker. **

**Thank you for the reviews on the previous chapter, it keeps me going! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games. **

**Well enough of my babbling, and here we go, chapter six!**

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><p><em>"<em>_Ladies and gentlemen, __let the __eighty__-fourth __Hunger Games __begin__!"_

He looked around and immediately felt relieved. He had been afraid that the arena would be some kind of desert, or some sort of glacier, but this looked just like an ordinary forest.

They were standing in a meadow surrounded by forest. In the middle laid the Cornucopia, and out gushed all sorts of things. He looked longingly at them, but he wouldn't try, there were more important things to focus on, like helping Sarah. But how exactly was he going the help her anyway? He had just been thinking that he was going to help her, but he had never really figured out how.

He looked up at the big clock, he had exactly twenty seconds left to come up with a plan.

_Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen…_

He looked around the big meadow, and felt the panic creeping in, where was she?

"Boom!"

Suddenly everyone was down from their platforms, heading either towards the Cornucopia, or towards the woods. He just stood there and felt confused. He could almost hear Ellie screaming at him.  
><em>"Chuck<em>_, what __are you doing__? __Get __away __from there__, run!"_  
>He climbed down from his platform and continued to search for Sarah, he didn't have to look far.<p>

She was running at full speed straight into the Cornucopia, straight towards certain death.

"Sarah, no!" He yelled, but she couldn't hear him.

He started running toward her, but stopped when he saw the girl from district one struck her down on the ground and raise a knife to her.

"No!" He started running towards them again, this time even faster, before he suddenly felt that he was lying on the ground to. He looked panic-stricken back and watched as the boy from the district four, Daniel Shaw, smiled evilly.  
>"Oops, pardon me ..."<br>Chuck tried desperately to get up, but Shaw was stronger, and he remained lying down.  
>"I can see you like the girl from your district, don't worry, I'll take good care of her ... well until I have to kill her anyway."<br>"Don't you touch her!"  
>Shaw laughed viciously.<br>"And what are you going to do about that 12? Kill me from the other side?"

He laughed again, and Chuck saw his opportunity. He grabbed Shaw's hand and ripped the spear out of it. Shaw threw himself sideways when Chuck instead pointed the spear towards him, and with Shaw off of him, Chuck raised and started running to Sarah again.

"I'm gonna kill you 12! You hear me? You're a dead man walking!" Shaw shouted after him, but Chuck just smiled, geez that guy was a really sore loser!

He looked forward again, but she wasn't there. The girl from district one was inside the Cornucopia, digging in the treasures, but Sarah was nowhere to be found.

He had failed, he had lost her, she was gone.

He turned and ran into the woods, no one even noticed him, everyone was dead or already in a big fight.

He started jogging, not knowing were, just wanting to get away from the Cornucopia. What if she was dead? What if one of those bodies was hers? No. He wouldn't make it if he thought like that, he had to remain hopeful. He had to hold on to the happy thoughts, even if they were few. Sarah was just fine, she was alive and she was safe. She had to be…

But what if she wasn't?

* * *

><p>He was so hungry. He didn't know how many hours had passed, but it was enough hours to make him feel like he was starving.<p>

He looked around, there was nothing edible here either. He had been running all day long, and he hadn't found anything to eat. Sure, he had seen some squirrels, and some rabbits, but without any weapons it was impossible to catch any of those. Maybe that was the gamemakers plan. Everyone without a weapon dies, that would certainly sort out the weeds quickly. He hoped that Sarah had weapons.

He sat down on a rock near a little stream, and took out a small bag from the lining of his jacket. This was the only thing he had gotten with him from the Cornucopia. He opened it, hoping for food, but of course there wasn't any. The bag contained a small bottle and a little package of salt. He filled the bottle with water from the lake and then he poured some salt in it. Well at least he had water now.

"Boom!" He almost fell down off the rock, surprised by the sound. He looked around the little forest clearing where he sat, but he was completely alone.

"Boom!" He looked around again, but then he realized that the sounds must be coming from the cannons. He started counting them.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven…

Almost 50 percent of them had already died. It was only a 50 percent chance that she was still alive.

* * *

><p>He sat alone in a forked branch. Sarah had taught him to climb trees, it was necessary outside District 12, since there were predators there. He sighed. He had to stop thinking about her all the time, at least until he learned if she was still alive or not. Or not… Just the thought of it cut through him like a knife. Or not…<p>

No. He had to stop, or he would go insane. He tried to think about something else, something happy, and immediately Ellie appeared in his mind. Ellie, he missed her so much. She had always been there for him, but not even she could do anything against the Capital. He remembered the goodbyes, it had been the toughest hour of his life.

_Two peacekeepers followed him into the Justice Hall. Or maybe follow was the wrong word, they made sure that he didn't escape. _

_They showed him to a little room and once there, he was left alone. He looked around, it was the most beautiful place he had ever been. Everything was so clean and so soft. He stroke his hand over the chair's fabric. He didn't know what the fabric was called, but it was beautiful._

"_Chuck!" Ellie burst through the door and embraced him, and after her followed Devon._

"_Chuck I don't know what to do! I….I… I asked them if there was anything to do….." Tears streamed down her cheeks and she was shaking uncontrollably. "But they said no! We… I…__ I don't know…." She looked at him with tears in her eyes._

"_It's okay El." He said and hugged her._

"_No it's not! I swore to dad that I would protect you! I promised him! You're my little brother, it's my job to protect you! This is all my fault…" She broke down in tears again and Chuck wanted to hug her, he wanted to comfort her, but he knew that nothing he could say or do would make her feel better. _

_Devon sat with Ellie in the couch, and Chuck sat down in the chair across the room._

"_You're really strong and fast Chuck, you still have a chance." Devon said, in an attempt to make them all feel better._

"_Yeah, and Sarah has taught me some things to." Chuck agreed. He suddenly realized that both Ellie and Devon were looking at him with sadness in their eyes. Oh right, Sarah._

"_I'm sorry bro." Devon said earnestly while he was stroking Ellie's back comfortingly._

_There was a harsh knock on the door and the peacekeeper arrived to tell them that their time was up._

"_No! No please! Don't do this to him, I beg you! Take me instead!" _

_The peacekeeper took Ellie by her shoulders and dragged her out of the room, but she managed to get free and ran up to him._

_She hugged him tightly._

"_Chuck I love you so much, don't forget that! You're a fighter you can do this! Try your best promise me that! I love you!"_

_He hugged her back._

"_I promise and I love you too!"_

_The peacekeeper grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room and closed the door after them._

_He had just said goodbye to his sister, he already knew that he would never see her again. At his next thought his heart sank. He had promised her to try to win…_

_There was a knock on the door again and Morgan stepped into the room and sat down in the sofa where Ellie had been sitting._

"_I… I don't know what to say…" Morgan started."I had always thought that we would be best friends forever you know? See each other's kids grow up and be the coolest dads ever. That we would best man at each other's weddings."Suddenly he seemed to regret his words. "I mean, I'm not saying that that's not going to happen, it's just…"_

"_It's okay." _

_Morgan sighed. "You have a chance out there Chuck, a good one. You're strong and fast."_

"_So are the careers." Chuck interrupted him._

"_Well the careers are arrogant! They are so sure that they're going to win that nothing else exists for them!" Morgan's almost yelling at him now, but Chuck knows that he isn't mad at him, this is his way to deal with the loss. He's imagining that Chuck could win, but both of them know that that's not going to happen. _

"_Fine, I'm going to try my best." Chuck says, mostly to get Morgan to feel better._

_One more lie. He had never lied to Ellie or Morgan before… What was happening to him?_

"_Good."_

_Morgan seemed to regret the yelling. He rose and sat down next to Chuck instead. "I have something for you." Morgan said and grabbed something in his pocket. "Remember this?"_

_Chuck looked down at Morgan's palm. In it lay a small brooch in gold depicting a bird that was just about to fly._

"_Our Mockingjay pin! Where did you find this?"_

_He and Morgan had found the Mockingjay pin when they were out playing treasure hunt when they were eight. They had proudly showed it to his father, who later came up with fairytales including the pin. He and Morgan loved to hear stories about pirates, who had accidently dropped the pin in district 12, or stories about magicians, who had created a magical brooch. _

_Two years later though, the brooch had disappeared and they hadn't found it, well, until now._

"_I found it when I was cleaning under the couch in my house." Morgan smiled at him for a few seconds but then his smile disappeared again._

"_I was going to give it to you on your birthday next month, but I want to give it to you now instead."_

"_Because I'm not going to be alive next month." Chuck thought to himself._

"_Thanks Morgan" He putted the pin in his pocket and hugged his friend._

"_I love you buddy" Morgan said with a shaky voice._

"_I love you too."_

"_And I'm sorry about, you know, with Sarah and everything."_

_Chuck nodded, he knew that Morgan would be the one who would understand the most._

_There was a knock on the door again._

"_Time's up." The peacekeeper informed them._

_Morgan looked him straight into the eyes._

"_You can do this, you're Chuck Bartowski, you've always been there for me, you've always been my hero, and I know that you can do this." Then he left the room, leaving Chuck all alone._

_He looked at the big oak door. They were not coming back. He was never going to see any of them again. He was never going to see them smile, or hear their laughter ever again. He thought about what Morgan had said._

"_**See each other's kids grow up, and be the coolest dads ever!"**_

_Not only would he never meet Ellie's and Morgan's kids, he would never have any of his own. No little Chucks or Chuckettes running around._

_He tried to shake the feeling away. No, he would never have kids, but maybe she could. She could be a mother, she could meet her father again. She could live, but only if he sacrificed those things for her. And he would. _

* * *

><p>He looked down at the little Mockingjay pin, Portia had attached it to his jacket. He gently stroke his fingers over the little bird.<p>

"Where are you flying little bird?" He thought to himself.

Maybe it was going to get food? Maybe it was escaping.

He looked at the bird again. Wings… If he would have had wings then he could escape too. He could fly away with Sarah, and never look back. They'd be free, free from the games and free from the Capital… But he had no wings, and no one could escape the Capital, everyone knew that.

Suddenly the National Anthem started playing and he held his breath. This was it. They started showing all of the dead tributes, starting with district one.

_District 2: Girl: Maria_

_District 4: Girl: Cassie_

_District 5: Girl: Kara_

_District 5: Boy: Xander_

_District 6: Girl: Zia_

_District 6: Boy: Ray_

_District 7: Girl: Delia_

_District 7: Boy: Ramone_

_District 8: Boy: Cosmo_

_District 9: Girl: Saskia_

_District 10: Girl: Vita_

_District 10: Boy: Blaze._

And then, the screen went blank. He exhaled relieved. She was alive! She was out there somewhere and she was alive. He wanted to cheer and jump, but considering the situation that wasn't really a good idea.

He leaned back with a content smile on his lips. They had both survived the day, and tomorrow morning he was going to find her, and then he would be able to protect her. Maybe he hadn't failed that bad after all?

* * *

><p>Crack!<p>

He opened his eyes.

"I think he went this way." A voice said.

He looked down on the ground and saw six silhouettes standing about 25 meters away from the tree where he was hiding. It was the careers. The girl and boy from district one, the boy from district 2, the girl and boy from district 3, and the boy from district 4, Daniel Shaw.

"I'm tired." Complained the girl from district 1, Carina.

"All of us are, so stop complaining!" answered the big guy from 2, Casey.

Chuck sat as still as possible and held his breath. If they saw him, he was as good as dead.

Crack!

One of the branches above him broke and fell to the ground. It was a thick branch and he hadn't even touched it, it was the gamemakers' fault. They wanted him to die, because the audience needed some excitement now that the bloodbath was over.

He looked down on the ground and found all of them staring back up at him.

"Prepare for a painful death twelve." Shaw said and smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it! I know that the ending sucked, but I had a bit of a block there. <strong>

**Please leave a review!**


	7. Sarah versus the eartquake

**Here we go again! Chapter seven! I apologize for the lack of update, but now that my break from school is over, updates might take a little longer.**

**Actually, when I started this story, I originally wanted it to be a one-shot (mostly because I didn't think that I could do a story this long), but this is the seventh chapter! Yay!**

**So, this chapter is going to be both Sarah's and Chuck's POV…**

**Thank you for your reviews!**

**I feel like I'm doing a list here. First I explain the chapter, then I thank for the reviews, then I do "This chapter's lesson", then I do the disclaimer-thing, then the "I'm sorry for all the grammar errors", and then I say something like "Hope y'all like it!" **

**I'm sorry if this routine gets to obvious… **

**The lullaby I use in this chapter is actually the one Sarah sings to Molly in Chuck versus the baby, in case you wanted to know… Also, I changed the lyrics just a bit, so that they would fit better (really just one word), hope you don't mind. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, the Hunger Games or Slumber my darling.**

**Anyway, here we go, chapter seven! **

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><p>"Sarah?"<p>

She opened her eyes slowly and blinked at the sudden light.

"Rue?"

"Yes, it's me." The little girl stated happily.

She sat up and looked around. It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear blue and the sun rays warmed her face. The birds singing and the crickets humming formed a beautiful chorus together and made everything seem almost magical. It was perfect, to perfect.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's just fine, I just wondered if you were hungry, I've caught breakfast!" She said, and proudly showed Sarah the bird that she had been hiding behind her back.

Sarah sat up and inspected the bird. It was a really nice one, big and with lots of meat on it.

"That's great Rue, this one's big, we can eat now and still have some left!"

"But we need to cook it, we need fire."

Rue was right, that was a problem.

"Someone lighted a fire this night not too far away from here, I saw the smoke. Maybe we could use the embers of that fire?" Rue wondered.

Sarah thought about it for a second. There was a small risk that whoever lighted that fire still was there, but that chance was pretty small, plus she had knives now, she could defend both Rue and herself if necessary.

"Good idea, let's go!"

They started walking towards the rests of the fire together, laughing and talking, and Sarah realized how much she liked this little girl. They had become so tight in such a short time, and she wasn't ready to let go of Rue yet. The real question was, would she ever be ready to let go of Rue?

"Sarah, can I ask you a question?" Rue asked her as they had been walking for almost half an hour.

"Sure sweetie."

"Umh, I was just wondering…" She flushed a little.

"Go on."

"Do you like the boy from your district? I mean since he likes you and everything…"

That wasn't the question that Sarah was expecting and she went silent. She had forbidden herself to think about him, but when they showed the dead, it was almost impossible for her not to.

What was she supposed to say? Was she going to tell Rue the truth, which was what she wanted to do? She wanted to share her problems with a friend, she wanted someone to comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but of course it wasn't. But still, Chuck couldn't hear her, maybe she could tell Rue a bit?

"I guess I like him, at least I used to." She started slowly.

This felt odd. She had never had a real girl-friend, no friends at all except for Chuck really. So talking about her feelings for him with Rue felt strange, but she liked it, and as soon as she had started, the words were flowing out of her mouth.

"Things are complicated, you know? We have been really good friends for a long time, maybe something more too. Then after the reaping, I shut of emotionally, I just couldn't handle it. I told him that there wasn't anything between us, that we were over. I mean I had to, right? I had to focus and so did he. It was best for both of us…

Suddenly all of her emotions were coming back up, and she stopped. She had locked her feelings away, and for a good reason, and she wasn't going to let them take control of her again.

"I'm sorry." Rue said earnestly, with sadness in her voice.

"Thank you." Sarah answered, feeling remarkably better. Just talking to Rue and getting everything off of her chest had been just what she needed. "Now let's find that fire, huh?" She said in a happier tone, and started walking faster.

Suddenly the ground started shaking and Sarah had to grab a branch sticking out from a tree to prevent herself from falling.

"What was that?" Rue asked scared.

"I don't know, probably one of the gamemaker's tricks."

Another shake rumbled the ground, this one even stronger than the last one.

"Sarah I think it's an earthquake, we have them in my district sometimes, but they are not this strong."

"Yeah, I've read about those in school, what should we do?"

"Sarah watch out!" Rue screamed with fear in her voice.

Sarah turned around and saw that the tree she was holding was starting to tilt. Before she knew it the tree was falling right over her. She threw herself sideways, and barely made it out before the tree hit the ground with a loud bang.

She rose slowly and coughed, the tree had drawn up a lot of dust from the ground.

"Rue?" She called hoarsely. "Rue!"

"Sarah." It was barely audible, but the little sob was so heartbreaking that she immediately froze.

"Rue?"

She was lying under the one of the branches, looking like she was fine, but as Sarah got closer she could see that one of the smaller branches had hit her right in her abdomen.

"Oh my god, Rue!"

She quickly knelt by Rue's side, and carefully pushed away the remains of the tree. She lifted Rue's shirt a little and gasped. The wound was deep, too deep, and there was nothing she could do.

"Sarah…"

"Rue don't worry, you're fine okay? I…."

Tears started streaming down Sarah's cheeks, but she didn't care. This just simply couldn't be happening, not now.

"You have to win Sarah…" Rue said weakly, and tears formed in her eyes as well.

"I'll try my best." She answered, while she slowly brushed away a few strands of hair from Rue's eyes. "I promise."

"Can you sing for me?"

Sing? What could she sing? And then she remembered the song that her mother had used to sing to her when she was younger. It was beautiful and it was the only lullaby she knew.

"Sure sweetie."

She grabbed Rue's hand and cleared her throat slightly. Then she started singing.

"_Slumber my darling, I'm right here, _

_guarding your dreams from all terror and fear._

_Sunlight has passed, and the twilight has gone,_

_slumber my darling, the night's coming on._

_Sweet visions attend thy sleep,_

_Fondest, dearest to me._

_While others their revels keep,_

_I will watch over thee._

_Slumber my darling, the birds are at rest,_

_the wandering dews by the flowers are caressed._

_Slumber my darling, I'll wrap thee up warm,_

_And pray that the angels will keep thee from harm._

_Slumber my darling, till morn's blushing ray,_

_Brings to the world, the glad tidings of day._

_Fill the dark void with, thy dreamy delight,_

_Slumber thy I will guard thee tonight._

_Slumber my darling, the birds are at rest,_

_The wandering dews by the flowers are caressed._

_Slumber my darling, I'll wrap thee up warm,_

_And pray that the angels will keep thee from harm."_

* * *

><p>"<em>Prepare for a painful death twelve."<em>

He leaned back and closed his eyes. He wanted to fight back, but he knew that the situation was hopeless. Sure, he could climb even higher in the tree, higher than Casey, Shaw, the boy from one and the boy from three could, but he was heavier than the girls, so it would only buy him some more time.

"Are you going to climb down yourself, or are you going to make me come and get you?" Shaw asked, while playing with an awfully thick spear.

"I would just love to see you climb this tree, so why don't you come get me?" Chuck answered, feeling braver than he actually was, and looked down at Shaw.

Shaw growled and began to climb, but fell back down again after a few seconds.

Chuck laughed when Shaw hit the ground.

"Harder than it looks right?"

"CAN SOMEONE GET HIM DOWN!" Shaw shouted and looked at the others.

"Oh please, I'll do it." Carina said bored, and started climbing.

He closed his eyes and only the tree's shaking indicated that she was getting closer and closer.

But wasn't the tree shaking a bit too much?

He opened his eyes again. Carina lay on the ground, she had fallen down. Suddenly the tree started shaking again, this time even more.

"I think it's an earthquake!" Screamed the boy from 1, Silk.

"Let's go!" Casey shouted and they ran away.

"Earthquake?" Chuck thought to himself.

Suddenly the tree started shaking again, this time more powerful than last time. He looked down and realized that it wasn't the tree that was shaking, it was the ground. Silk was right, this was an earthquake, and it was created by the gamemakers.

Ha quickly climbed down the tree and started running in the opposite direction from where the careers had went. He ran and ran until he suddenly felt like falling. He looked up, he had fallen down in what seemed to be a large crack in the ground. He quickly climbed up again, thankfully his hole wasn't so deep, and as soon as he had, the hole sealed. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if he still would have been in the hole when it had sealed, but it had probably been unpleasant.

He looked up again, the soil was filled with large death-holes everywhere, waiting for someone to fall into them. He jumped over them carefully, but almost fell into one as another shake rumbled in the ground.

He continued to run, and after a while it seemed like the shakings had stopped. He looked back, the soil was complete with no holes. The audience had got their excitement for today, and he could rest.

He sat down on a mossy stone and tried to focus his eyes. He was so dizzy, he hadn't eaten anything since the games began. It had been okay when he had only been resting, but after the run he felt like he was going to faint.

He lay down and closed his eyes. So this was how he was going to die, he was going to starve to death. He wasn't completely unfamiliar with the idea of it. When his and Ellie's situation had been the worst, he had been thinking about it, but he hadn't thought about that in years. Starve to death… There were sure nicer ways to die.

He didn't even open his eyes at the sounds from the cannon.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Five minutes later there was another Boom, but he was too tired, too weak.

He lay there for what felt like days, but it was probably just hours. The anthem started playing, and faces appeared in the sky. He felt nervous, feeling like a total fail when it came to protecting her. But what could he do anyway? It wasn't like he was in shape to defend her from Shaw, or anyone else for that matter.

_District 1: Silk_

_District 3: Louis_

_District 9: Romulus_

_District 11: Rue_

She was okay. Once again he had been saved by some miracle. She was still okay.

Four dead though. That was much for an "ordinary" day. The earthquake must've been better than expected, it even killed two careers. He remembered the last name, Rue, and felt sad. She had been so young. Her death was really something that showed the cruelty of the Capital. They had taken something so pure and innocent, and killed it for their own amusement. She was never coming back.

He felt like fainting again, and once again closed his eyes. He knew that he didn't have much time left, and he was okay with it. He had realized many days ago that he was living on borrowed time, and this was it.

Bang!

He looked around and found a parachute next to him.

But Haymitch had promised that all the money would go straight to Sarah! He felt betrayed. He wasn't in shape to protect her, but he had trusted that Haymitch would!

He looked at the parachute for a while, and decided to at least look what was inside.

He carefully opened the little box attached to the parachute and the amazing smell of freshly baked bread spread around him. He took the loaf of white bread out of the box and looked longingly at it. It was not the same bread as they had in district 12, this bread was clearly made in the capitol, and it was still warm.

Suddenly he noticed a little note inside the box as well. He took it and read it.

_Chuck._

_I know that you didn't want me to send you any gifts, but the girls here in the Capitol are getting crazy, and keeps giving me money for you, so it would seem suspicious if you didn't get anything. Eat it, you can't give to her anyway._

_Stay alive -H-_

He knew that Haymitch was right, he couldn't give the loaf to Sarah, so he broke of a piece of the bread and putted it in his mouth. It tasted heavenly. Before he knew it, half of the loaf was gone, and he had to stop himself.

"Save some for later." He reminded himself and laid the bread in his sac.

He climbed up in a tree and quickly fell asleep, content by the thought that everything once again was all right. He was okay, she was okay, and tomorrow he was going to find her.

* * *

><p><strong>So Rue died... :( I was like, maybe she could live somehow? Cause I really like her, but that would be wierd if she somehow survived so it had to be like this... :(<strong>

**Well that's it for now, hope you liked it! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! **


	8. Sarah versus the dream

**Hi again guys! Chapter eight! **

**I know that I took forever to post this chapter, but real life got in the way, cause I have all my exams, prom, and all these other things going on right now, so there wasn't really any time to update this story. **

**Thank you for your reviews on the last chapter, it really means a lot! **

**This chapter's lesson:**

**The district 12 hand gesture: It's sort of a goodbye slash admiration kind of thing from district 12. It's when you put three fingers in front of your mouth and then stretches your hand out to the sky. **

**The Hob: The Hob is like the black market in district 12, where you can sell your game or old clothes e.c.t. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games.**

**I present to you… Chapter eight! **

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><p>Once she finished the song, Sarah didn't even have to look. She already knew that Rue had passed. Her presence had been like a shield from the games, from the reality, but now it was back to real life, and Rue was gone, she was dead.<p>

"Boom!"

The cannons confirmed what Sarah already knew.

She tried to brush away the tears, but quickly realized that it was useless since new ones came all the time. She pushed away the tree a few feet away from Rue's body, and sat down next to her.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see. She could just cry and cry and cry. She gently stroke Rue's cheek and fixed her shirt a bit. She knew that the gamemakers wanted to pick up the body, but she didn't want to give Rue to them, she didn't want to just leave her.

What was Rue's family going to think of her? Where they going to think that she didn't care about Rue at all? That she had thought that Rue just was another tribute? No. She had to show everyone that Rue was special, that she mattered, both to Sarah but also to the world.

She looked around and discovered some poppies growing a few feet away from them. She rose slowly and walked towards them. Rue's voice echoed in her head,

"_These are poppies, we have them next to my house back home. Aren't they beautiful?"_

She leaned down and carefully plucked all of the flowers. Then she went back to Rue, and gently placed the flowers all over body. First so they covered the wound, then in her hair, and last around her face. When she finished, Rue could just as well be asleep.

She kissed Rue's forehead once, and pulled three fingers in front of her mouth and then stretched them out to Rue.

"Goodbye Rue."

Then she walked away, almost blinded by the tears, and listened as the hovercraft appeared to pick up Rue's body.

Just a few hours ago, everything had been so good, so normal. They had been talking, laughing, and almost forgetting that they were in the games. Now she was all alone, no one to talk to, and even the weather was worse.

She sat down on a rock as she realized that it was impossible for her to go anywhere. Rue… Twelve year old Rue was dead. She had saved Sarah from the tree, but Sarah hadn't been able to save her…

She sat on the rock for hours, crying and remembering both Rue, but also her sister. None of them existed any longer, none of them was alive. None of them was ever going to experience growing up, having kids, finding love…

"But I can." Sarah thought to herself. "I am alive, I still have a chance."

She rose and walked over to a small stream. She washed her face and refilled the bottles with new water. She had promised Rue that she was going to try, and she would keep that promise.

She walked for hours, deeper and deeper into the forest, leaving weak Sarah behind. She had to focus again, she had to stay alive. Huh, stay alive… Maybe Haymitch's advice wasn't that stupid after all.

She walked until sunset, but then the exhaustion from the day's happenings took over. She climbed up in a tree and quickly fell asleep, only to be awakened by the anthem a few hours later.

_District 1: Silk_

_District 3: Louis_

_District 9: Romulus_

_District 11: Rue_

She closed her eyes again and the anthem stopped playing. She wanted to sleep and to forget. She wasn't strong enough to think about Rue, or him for that matter. Sleep seemed like the perfect rescue, giving her a few hours away from reality, away from her problems.

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><p><em>She looked up at the sky and immediately knew that she was dreaming. She was lying on the meadow outside district 12. Around her grew flowers in every color possible, and above her the blue sky boasted with its lack of clouds. She closed her eyes for a second and listened to the mockingjay's singing, but quickly opened them again as she heard footsteps.<em>

"_Are you acting as bait?" _

_She turned around and there he was. Walking towards her with a big smile on his lips._

"_Chuck! What are you doing here?" She asked confused._

_He looked at her for a second with a strange look on his face._

"_This is our meeting place, remember? Did you hit your head or something?"_

_This was a really weird dream, but she loved it. It was so vivid, it was like she was reliving one of their days in the woods. She knew that it was just a dream, and she knew that she had locked away her feelings, but dreaming about him didn't really count as thinking, at least that was what she thought, and she was going to enjoy this brief getaway to the fullest._

"_Should we go?" He asked her pointed towards the forest._

"_Can't we just sit here today? You know, just… talk?" She asked._

_He looked at her with that strange face again, and then he nodded slowly._

"_Of course." He said and sat down next to her. "What do you want to talk about?"_

_She thought about it for a while and they both sat and watched the scene in front of them._

"_Chuck…" She started slowly. "Do you think heaven exists?"_

"_What?"_

"_You know, like when we die, what do you think happens?"_

_This was obviously not the question he had been expecting and he seemed to be thinking it through before he answered it._

"_Yeah, I think so. I mean there has to be something, don't you think?"_

"_But let's say I killed someone, do you think that I would still go to heaven?"_

_He looked like he wanted to ask her why she was bringing up all these weird questions, but he didn't._

"_I think you would Sarah. I know that you're a good person."_

"_Not if I killed you." She thought to herself._

"_Do you want to hear what happened at the Hob today?" Chuck asked her in an attempt to make her feel better._

"_Yeah, tell me."_

"_Boom!"_

* * *

><p>She opened her eyes. The sound of the cannon had awakened her. She wasn't in a sunny meadow with him, she was in a dark, cold forest all alone.<p>

She jumped down from the tree, and froze as she heard someone behind her.

"Hello there sweetie."

She turned around slowly. Once she had, her heart sank. They were four, all of them careers, and she was all alone.

Casey, Carina, Shaw and Olivia were standing just a few feet away from her, all of them with weapons in their hands. She knew that she was going to die, but she wasn't going to cry like a baby, she was going to die with dignity, both for herself, but also for her father. He didn't need to see her crying and screaming.

"I said hello." The boy from four, Shaw, said again, this time a bit louder.

"I heard you the first time." She answered, a lot cockier than she actually felt.

"Oh shut up Walker!" Carina said angrily and pointed her knife dangerously close to Sarah's face.

"Stop it Carina! I want to finish this one…" Shaw said and walked up to Sarah. He slowly stroked her cheek.

"Such a shame really, with a beauty like you. But still, you're from twelve after all…"

She wanted to slap him in the face, but the fear of a more painful death kept her still.

He stepped away from her again.

"Casey, my knife." He said and stretched out his hand to the tall boy from two.

Casey handed him the knife, and looked over at Sarah. There was something in his eyes… If she didn't know better she would have said that it was pity.

"Prepare to die…" He threw the knife and she closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>She heard a sound indicating that the knife had hit something, and then a loud thump when someone or something hit the ground.<p>

Why wasn't there any pain? She opened her eyes slightly and looked down at her body, there were no wounds. She looked up and took in the scene in front of her:

Shaw, Olivia, Casey and Carina were all standing with their mouths open in surprise. They were all staring at something on the ground. She looked down at the ground and felt her own mouth open slightly.

He was here, it wasn't just a dream this time, he was here. Chuck was lying on the ground with an expression of pain in his face. But why was he lying there? Then she noticed it: He had Shaw's knife stuck in his left thigh, really deep. What had happened?

She looked up again and everyone began to move, the moment of surprise and peace was over and now she was going to die.

She looked down at Chuck, not knowing what to do, and then it hit her: He had saved her. He had jumped in front of her, and now he was dying. But why?

"Chuck?"

He looked deep into her eyes and gave her a sad smile, and then he reached for something in his pocket.

"Sarah run." He whispered to her hoarsely, as he pushed some buttons on the little blue and green item he had in his hands.

"What? What are you going to…"

"Now!"

She started running, but barely made it a few meters before the ground exploded, and everything turned black.

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><p><strong>I know that this chapter was short, and to be honest I know that I've had better ones, and I'm really sorry. I just felt like I really needed to post something and this was what I had the time to write. I promise that the next chapter will be longer, and I can promise a lot of fluff! Da da da… Please leave a review! <strong>


	9. Sarah versus the decision

**I present to you… Chapter nine! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games.**

* * *

><p>Her head felt like it was going to explode, the pain was almost unbearable. She opened her eyes slightly, only to be welcomed by a scene that looked like it came right out of a nightmare.<p>

The sky was dark, and the air was cold. She was lying next to a tree, and around her were burned plants and bushes, but also smaller rocks and flowers that had been dragged out of the ground with the explosion.

She sat up, and immediately felt like throwing up. She remembered hitting the tree before she passed out, that was probably the reason why her head felt like someone had shoved a knife into it.

A knife into it… Chuck! He had saved her…and now he was dying! If he hadn't already…

"Chuck!" She rose slowly, and half walked half dragged herself back to the place where she had met the careers. It looked even worse than the place where she had woken up. All of the green had been replaced with dark and dust.

She looked around, where was he? But then she saw him. He was lying about 20 feet away from where she had left him. He was unconscious, and blood was streaming down his face, coming from a wound that she couldn't see.

"CHUCK!"

She ran up to him and knelt by his side.

"Chuck? Chuck! Oh my god! Chuck come on please wake up!"

Silent tears started streaming down her face as his eyes stayed closed.

"Chuck listen to me I'm here… Chuck I'm here… I came back, I'm right here Chuck…"

The tears came faster and soon she couldn't even see.

"Chuck, please come on!"

She had to get him out of there, quickly, but how? There was no time, the careers could wake up at any second, and he was too heavy for her to carry.

"Chuck please, I have so much that I want to tell you…"

"_Crack!"_

She turned around, almost expecting Shaw to be standing behind her, but he wasn't. Instead, there was a pushcart, hanging down from a parachute. She rose slowly and walked up to it. She opened the parachute, and inside there was a small note:

_Stop crying and get to work sweetheart!_

_-H-_

She looked at the pushcart again and suddenly she understood what Haymitch wanted her to do. She looked up at the sky again.

"Thank you Haymitch!" She said, as loud as she dared, and then she went back to Chuck.

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><p>Getting Chuck up on the pushcart was easier said than done, but after ten minutes she had managed to budge him on to the cart, and she began to drag him away from the careers. But where could she go? Where could she hide him?<p>

She looked down at him. He was so injured… So fragile right now… She knew that she would have to take care of him if she stayed, but would she? If she stayed then her chance to win would reduce, and thinking of herself wouldn't be an option any longer.

They got to a small stream, the same one that Sarah had refilled her bottles in the other day, and she decided to take a look at his injuries.

She left the carriage and walked down to the water. Slowly, she tore a small piece of her shirt, which she then dipped into the clear water. She quickly dipped her hands into the water as well, and sighed eased when the cold water swept over her tender hands.  
>When she returned to the car and saw his disfigured face, she felt the tears threatening to come again. His beautiful face looked so disfigured out of all the dirt and dried blood. The usual smile lines were gone, and instead, the face was filled with anxiety and pain, even now that he was unconscious.<p>

Gently and carefully, she began to wipe the blood off of his face, and slowly she began to recognize the boy she had gotten to know so long ago. When all the blood and the dirt were gone, she began taking care of his wounds. He had small cuts all over his body, but she could easily handle them. The wound in his head was deep, but also that one he would survive. She washed the wounds carefully and with the help of moss and water everything looked pretty good. Satisfied with herself she decided to take a look on the knife-wound, only to be met by a nightmare.

The wound was deep, too deep. There was pus running down the leg and around the wound the skin was glowing red from inflammation. It was bad, really bad.

She did what she had done with the other wounds, not really knowing how to take care of it. She washed it, and made a bandage out of the cloth-piece and one of Chuck's shoelaces, he wouldn't be able to use his shoes for awhile anyway.

When she finished, she decided to take care of herself to. She knew that she sooner or later would have to make a decision, to stay with him or to go, but she chose to postpone it as much as she could.

She took care of her wounds, and scrubbed away the dirt. When she got tired of scrubbing, she simply lay down in the stream, and let it wash away everything. All the dirt, all the blood, all the horrible things that had happened to her in the past few days…

When she was clean again she combed through her hair with her fingers, and put it in its usual pony tail. She let the clothes dry, and filled the bottles with new water.  
>While she waited she decided to wash Chuck's clothes as well. She took his jacket, shirt and pants, but left his underwear on. Even here, inside the arena, it felt too weird.<p>

Once everything was done, and she couldn't come up with anything more to do, she sat down next to him. This was it, she had to decide now, or he would wake up while she was still there.

There were pros and cons with both options. Pros would be having a teammate, and maybe getting more sponsors, but the biggest pro was of course having him there.

At the same time she would make herself so much more vulnerable if she always had to protect him, and she would have to find food for both of them.

She looked up at the trees. There was no way that he would make it up there, they would have to live on the ground. And then there was that thing that only one of them could survive….

The cons were definitely more than the pros…

"Sarah?"

She looked down slowly, and found Chuck looking up at her.

"Chuck… Are you… Are you okay?" She asked, in lack of better words.

"My leg hurts like hell, but I'll live." He laughed a little, because the whole situation was just so weird.

As soon as she heard his laugh she knew what to do, and she wondered why she had even questioned it. Chuck was her home. As long as she had him she would never fall apart, and right now she needed him more than ever.

"I'll take care of that, and make sure that you get better. I'm not going anywhere."

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><p><strong>Did anyone recognize the things that Sarah said to Chuck when he was unconscious? I originally had a whole different text there, but I figured that the lines from Chuck versus phase three fitted as well! Hope you liked it!<strong>

**I know that I promised a longer chapter and fluff, but I figured that it would be better if I posted something, rather than to have you wait longer. I can promise fluff in the next chapter though! ;)**

**Please leave a review and tell me what you guys think! **


	10. Chuck versus the fever

**Chapter ten… **

**This chapter is going to be both Chuck's and Sarah's POV, hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games.**

**Now prepare to be heart warmed, or at least I hope so! **

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><p><em>He was running as fast as he could, and felt his eyes water as the cold air swept over his face. What if he was too late? He picked up speed.<em>

"_Sarah__!" _

_The scream __caught __in his throat __and he felt __as if he __would choke__. __He ran __up__to the stream and __continued to run __along it,__desperately trying to find her._

_While he was running the clouds scattered, and the moonlight lit up the forest in an eerily way. He had to find her… He had to find her before it was too late…_

_He didn't have to wait long before his prayers were heard. A minute later he spotted her._

"_Sarah!"_

_She was lying down, with her eyes wide open with fear, and above her stood Shaw with a spear raised._

"_No!" He screamed, but it was too late. Shaw smiled viciously at him and let go off the spear._

"_Nooooooo!"_

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><p>Chuck Bartowski woke up with a start.<p>

"It was just a dream." He tried to tell himself, but the image of Sarah's face as Shaw dropped the spear was impossible to remove. He had been having that same dream since he came to the arena. He thought that he would feel better now that she was with him, but he didn't. She was risking her own life trying to take care of him, that had never been a part of his plan.

He looked around the little cave that Sarah had picked out to be there "home". It was small, muddy, and on top of it all it was leaking in water, but it was better than being dead.

"Chuck, are you awake?"

He turned around and met a pair of blue eyes looking at him with concern.

"Yep, and you?"

She smiled, but the concern didn't go away.

"You look pale, you should lie down."

"I'm fine Sarah."

"That wasn't a suggestion."

"Yeah mum." He muttered jokingly, and lay down on the cold stone floor.

Sarah sat down beside him and placed her hand on his forehead. Judging by her face, she wasn't very content with the result.

"You're burning up."

There was an awkward silence, none of them knowing what to say or what to do. Since they had teamed up yesterday they had barely spoken a word to each other. There was so much to talk about, and so much to discuss, but where would they begin? They had always been able to talk about everything, and now it was as if they were strangers to each other.

"Sarah…" He began, but she interrupted him.

"No, please let me go first. I'm sorry about all those things I said to you before the games, but I was scared, and I still am. I am scared of losing you, I'm scared of living in a world where you don't exist. I know that my behavior was selfish, and that I was a complete idiot, but can you please forgive me? I just can't stand the thought that you are mad at me.

She looked him deep in the eyes, and he didn't look away, instead he smiled.

"I could never be mad at you Sarah."

She smiled too and they sat there for a moment, just enjoying each other's company, just saving that perfect moment before hell would break loose.

"Did you hear that?" She suddenly asked him.

"No, what?"

"That dinging sound?"

She went outside, since he wasn't able to, but she was back a minute later, holding a pie in her hands.

"Look what good old Haymitch sent us!"

He smiled and so did she, but there was a sense of disappointment in the air: Both of them had clearly been hoping for medication.

She sat down next to him and handed him the pie.

"Here, you go first."

He looked down at it and smelled it, but even though he hadn't had a decent meal in days, he wasn't hungry. Instead, the pie appeared rather gross to him.

"No I'm fine, you take it."

Her smile faded quickly, and a worried frown appeared instead.

"Chuck you have to eat."

"No really, I'm not hungry. It would be totally wasted on me."

"Chuck, please."

There was a pleading tone in her voice, and he grabbed the pie and forced himself to eat some of it. He chewed and chewed, but the food felt like it was growing inside of his mouth.

"There, now you take the rest."

* * *

><p><strong>Sarah's POV<strong>

He was sicker than she had thought. His fever was getting worse every day, and the inflammation on his thigh was spreading. She was slowly losing him. She was losing her Chuck.

She looked at him. He was asleep, but he was so cold that he was shaking. The fever raged in his body, and there was nothing she could do.

She leaned forward and brushed away a few strands of hair from his face. There had to be something that she could do! Something, anything! Then she got an idea:

She walked out of the cave, and looked up at the sky.

"Please, I need help. Give me the medication and I'll do anything, I promise!"

She waited, but nothing happened, and angry tears of hopelessness began to stream down her face. Who did they think they were? Did they think that they were gods or something? Did they believe that they had the rights to choose who died and who got to live?

She went into the cave again, and sat down beside him. The shakings had stopped, but he didn't seem to be asleep, his body appeared rather lifeless.

"Chuck?" She shook him, but nothing happened. "Chuck!" She shook him even harder, but still nothing.

Panicked she placed her fingers at his wrist, and after searching frantically for a few seconds she found it, his pulse. It was slow and unsteady, but it was there.

She sighed eased, but still felt panicked. He was unconscious, what if he didn't wake up?

"_Attention tributes!_"

She looked up and listened carefully to Claudius Templesmith's booming voice.

"_Each of you needs something desperately, and since the Capital is so generous, we have been able to fix all those things for you."_

Sarah looked up and felt confused. This was too good to be true, there had to be some sort of catch.

"_Tomorrow morning at dawn there is going to be a feast at the Cornucopia. You are all going to find a backpack with your district number written on it, and inside of it are the things you need the most. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor!"_

The medication…

She looked down at him. His pale-white face glistened with sweat, there wasn't much time.

If she stayed here, then at least she would be alive. If she went to the feast then there was a big chance that both of them would die. She hated herself for even weighing her options like this, but this was a game of survival.

She knelt by his side and kissed him on the forehead, and then she took her knives and walked out of the cage.

If she had to choose, then she would always choose to protect him.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it! I know that this chapter was short as well, but I have so much in school right now (I'm seriously drowning in homework), so I figured that this is better than nothing. When school's over I'm going abroad for two weeks, no internet there, so there is going to be a slight pause in my updates, but I'll see if I have time to post a new chapter before that. Otherwise, this will be the last chapter for about 4-5 weeks… :(<strong>

**Did anyone recognize my small (very small) reference to Chuck versus the subway? **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think! :)**


	11. Casey versus the feast

**SUMMER! Jippie! :)**

**So I managed to write another chapter before I go away, and yes, I know that I'm a hero and that I deserve thousands of awards for managing that… **

**So, things are going to be a bit different this chapter… It's going to be Casey's POV! Surprise! :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games**

* * *

><p>John Casey lay on the ground and looked up at the blue sky. It was his turn to act guard, and he had to wake everyone up in time for the feast. He sighed and looked around at his allies. Carina from 1, him from 2, Olivia from 3, and Shaw from 4. He didn't trust any of them, they were all able to kill all of the others in a matter of seconds, and he was able to kill them. The out coming of this was impossible to know yet.<p>

What were his parents thinking of this situation? His dad had sounded so sure that he would win.

"_You're finally going to make us proud son!"_

They all had, everyone back home had been expecting it, his victory, and why wouldn't they? He had been training for this his whole life. At six years age he had started training school, focusing only on pure strength and survival skills. He was a person built for the games, a hunger games machine, the perfect tribute.

His dad had been so disappointed every year that he hadn't gotten chosen. He wouldn't talk for days, just sit at his desk and stare into the wall. Many years ago his father's cousin had gotten picked, and had won, and his father was determined to keep the tradition going, since he never had had the honor to participate himself. Then this year, his final reaping since he was eighteen now, he had volunteered as usual, not even thinking about it because there were so many volunteers, and he had gotten picked.

Everyone had been cheering, finally they had said, finally. He had been glad too, finally feeling like he had made his parents proud of him. He hadn't thought much about the games, if it wasn't for his father he would probably never even had volunteered. Then when he left home, and came to the Capital, things got real. He had realized what was going on, but had calmed himself with the good chance of survival, he was a career, a good one. But now, in the arena… They were all good, he wasn't better than any of them. Sure, he was big and strong, but they all had skills. Shaw was good with any weapon, but he with the spear he was a killing machine. Carina played dumb, but if she got a knife she was just as deadly as Shaw. Olivia was younger than the rest of them, she was only sixteen, but her secret skill, poisoning, made it easy for her to kill anyone without having to use any body strength at all.

He would never say it to anyone, but he hated being in the games. He was supposed to love it, to think of it as a huge honor, but this… All this killing… It was so unnecessary. But of course he could never tell anyone that. Never.

He looked up at the sky again, dawn was close, they had to go or they would miss it.

"Get up" he said loudly, and they all awoke with a start.

They cleaned their weapons and prepared themselves in every way possible. This was a big day. The feast was always a bloodbath, not as big as the one at the Cornucopia, but big enough. There was not going to be seven tributes left when the day was over, that was for sure.

"Let's kill some tributes!" Shaw said. Carina laughed and Olivia smiled, he felt queasy.

This was an important day to them in more ways than one. They needed their bags at the feast, they really did. A few days ago had their whole food supply gotten spoiled and moldy. It was probably the gamemakers idea for a more interesting final, but it hadn't been a problem until now. They had hunted for food, but with no salt to clean their water with, they were as good as dead.

They started walking towards the large meadow, where the Games had begun. Together they marched against the Cornucopia, each envisioning their victory, each of them dreaming about their life after the games, the money, the fame, the luxury...

They arrived at the horn and hid the little stock of things they had left in a bush.  
>"Come on we have to prepare a plan." Shaw shouted and waved to them. No one had said it out loud, but it was clear that the others saw Shaw as the team leader, something that Casey hated.<p>

* * *

><p>"So ..." Shaw began when everyone was back to the horn. "Today we'll kill the rest. You three take that guy from 11, Jago, and I'll take Sarah."<br>"Why are we going to share one? Why should you get to have all the fun?" Protested Olivia.  
>Shaw muttered something angrily.<p>

"Fine then, Casey you're with me."

They hid in the green surrounding the meadow. Hours passed, but no one showed. Where were they?

Suddenly he heard something and looked at the Cornucopia.

Jago was running at full speed towards the Cornucopia, but of course he had no idea what was waiting inside…

He disappeared into the Cornucopia and about ten seconds passed before someone screamed, but it wasn't Jago, it was a girl.

"Help them." Shaw said. "I'll stay here and wait for Sarah."

He nodded and ran up to the Cornucopia.

When he arrived it was already a full battle. Both Carina and Olivia were fighting wildly, but Jago was good. He was as big as Casey, and was fairly well nourished being a kid from District 11. Before Casey could do anything Jago had managed to trip Carina and she hit the floor. Before she could react, he had taken the knife out of her hand and had run it straight into her chest. She gasped and looked shocked for a second, but then her head fell back and the cannon fired a shot.

"Boom!"

Jago looked up from Carina's body and looked at Casey. He was just about to throw his knife at Casey when suddenly blood started to stream down from his mouth. He looked down confused, and saw the knife that Olivia had shoved into Jago's chest.

Jago fell to the ground, and a few seconds later the cannons fired a second shot.

"Thanks for the help moron." Olivia muttered and stepped over the dead bodies. They stepped out into the chilly morning air again.

"What happens now, is the alliance over?" Olivia asked him as they walked back to their hiding places.

"I don't know." He answered, and that was truth, he hadn't even been thinking about what would happen once their alliance was over.

They got to the bush where he and Shaw had been hiding, but there was no one there.

"He must've gotten after 12 or something." Olivia said with a shrug, and just that moment they heard a scream coming from the lake.

"You should probably go after him."

He nodded and started to run in that direction, but once he got there, it was empty.

"Casey over here!"

He looked up and found Shaw standing about seventy meters away from him in the woods.

He started walking up to him, confused. What was going on? Had he already killed her? But hadn't heard any cannon…

Suddenly a sharp pain spread through his stomach and he looked down. Shaw had shoved a knife into his abdomen.

He tried to remain standing up, but the whole world was swaying, and before he knew he was down on the ground.

"I…" He tried to speak, but the words were barely audible. "I thought we had an… an alliance Shaw."

He heard someone laugh and looked up, Olivia had joined their little group.

"Poor baby, thought we had promised each other…." She said with a baby-voice and then laughed again.

"So this was your plan all along?"

"Congrats Casey, you figured out our evil plan. I really thought that it would be harder to fool you, but I guess that I was wrong…" He smiled and they walked away, leaving him to die all alone.

He closed his eyes to make sure that no one could see the pain in his eyes. He felt sorry for his father, he was probably so ashamed of him right now. He had disappointed them all...

He heard a rustling sound and looked up. At first he didn't see anything, but then he discovered her. The girl from district 12 was sitting in the tree above him.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, and then she jumped down to the ground.

"They're not coming back, right?"

He looked at her for a few seconds.

"No."

She looked like she didn't knew what to do, but then she walked up to him and sat down beside him.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked, surprised by her action.

"No one should have to die alone."

He looked at her face. She wasn't sad, she was determined. She grabbed his hand and stroke away the hair in his face.

This felt good. He was thankful for her helping him like this, it helped more than he would ever admit.

"Thanks." He whispered.

She smiled and started talking about her life in district 12. She talked about her father, her mother that had left her, and she talked about the other tribute from district 12, apparently they were friends.

As she talked the wound stopped hurting, and he knew that that was a bad sign, but he was relaxed. He listened to Sarah's stories and the world got further and further away. But he had to know something before he died.

"Did you get the thing you needed at the Cornucopia?"

She smiled. "I did."

He smiled too, and then he thought about his family. Would they grief? Would they pretend that he had never even existed? Would they feel ashamed of him? They probably would.

And then he entered the black.

"Boom!"

* * *

><p><strong>Ahhhhh, poor Casey! <strong>

**I'm going abroad for two weeks now and there's no internet there, so I won't be able to upload anything. An update is going to take about 3 weeks cause I haven't really started writing the next chapter yet… :p**

**Next chapter isn't going to be Chuck's or Sarah's POV either, because I want to explore other characters as well, next chapter is going to be…. Ellie's POV! Hope you guys are okay with my exploring… :P **

**So have a nice summer-start and don't forget to leave me review! Also I LOVE a long review so don't be afraid to write every thought down… ;)**

**Hope you liked it!**


	12. Ellie versus the nightmare

**Here we go again… **** Chapter twelve!**

**I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I haven't really had the energy to update this. I had planned to write a much longer chapter, but I felt like I had to get something out. So, this is probably the shortest and worst chapter that I've written, and I'm sorry. I hope that you'll bare with me and hopefully the next chapter will be better! **

**Disclaimer: I don't' own the Hunger Games or Chuck**

**Here we go, Ellie's POV!**

* * *

><p><em>Girl district 1: Carina <em>

_Boy district 1: Silk_

_Girl district 2: Maria_

_Boy district 2: Casey_

_Boy district 3: Louis_

_Girl district 4: Cassie_

_Girl district 5: Kara_

_Boy district 5: Xander_

_Girl district 6: Zia_

_Boy district 6: Ray_

_Girl district 7: Delia_

_Boy district 7: Ramone_

_Girl district 8: Lilou_

_Boy district 8: Cosmo_

_Girl district 9: Saskia _

_Boy district 9: Romulus_

_Girl district 10: Vita_

_Boy district 10: Blaze_

_Girl district 11: Rue_

_Boy district 11: Jago_

The screen blackened and the names of the dead disappeared. She looked to her left at Devon.

"No, why did you turn it off?"

He looked at her with sad eyes, and a face filled with empathy.

"Babe you don't need to see that."

"I have to." She whispered. "You know that."

He turned on the TV again and she leaned back in the couch that she had barely left since the games begun. So many names… So many dead people. People with families, friends, maybe with girlfriends and boyfriends too. People with dreams and hopes…

A silent tear escaped her eye and she quickly wiped it away. Devon didn't need to see her crying again, he was worried enough as it was, and she had already been crying enough for a whole lifetime.

Devon grabbed her hand.

"Babe take some rest, it's my turn to watch, You know that I'll wake you if anything happens."

She nodded, she could really use some sleep. This was how they had been living for the past weeks. One watched, and the other one rested. Sometimes Devon went to get food and other things they needed in town, but that wasn't often. They barely had to buy any food at all. Their neighbors had made sure that they always had food on their table. Every day someone knocked on their door, bringing food. It wasn't loads of food, but sometimes a piece of pie or even a piece of meat.

She had been overwhelmed by their generosity, this was after all district 12, and people here had to fight to get enough food for their families, so that they gave food away was incredible.

But this was the Games-time of the year. Everyone gathered, everyone became almost like a big family, all of them rooting for their tributes, and grieving with the tribute's families.

As she lay down she felt how tired she really was, she hadn't slept for almost 24 hours. She looked one last time at the screen to check that everything still was okay, and then the exhaustion took over.

* * *

><p>In her dream she and Chuck danced at the meadow where their father once had taken them when they were young. It felt like a memory, because Chuck looked like he was eight again. They danced and laughed and suddenly there was a third person at the meadow. Their father.<p>

"Dad?" She asked.

"Yes sweetheart it's me." He said, but he seemed to be in a rush. "You have to promise me something."

"What?" She asked confused and stopped dancing.

"You're going to have to protect Chuck. Be there no matter what, because you're his big sister. Can you promise me that?"

She smiled.

"I promise dad."

Her dad smiled too, but then his smile disappeared and he screamed.

"No!"

Why was he screaming? She turned around. Chuck had stopped dancing and lay on the ground, with a spear in his abdomen.

She ran up to him and looked down at his little face with the big brown eyes.

"Chuck!"

"Ellie…" He whispered, and then he vanished.

"No!"

She walked back to her dad who had tears in his eyes.

"You promised me." He said and the tears ran down his cheeks."You promised me to protect him… And then her dad disappeared too.

"No!" She screamed. "Dad please come back! I'm sorry!"

She sat down in the grass and tears ran down her cheeks when suddenly Caesar Flickerman came walking towards her. He stopped in front of her and looked down at her wet face.

"Something's happening."

"What?" She asked slowly.

"I think something's about to happen."

Caesar sat down beside her and shook her shoulder gently.

"Babe wake up."

"What?" She asked confused.

"Babe wake up!"

* * *

><p>She opened her eyes only to find that the person talking to her and touching her wasn't Caesar Flickerman, but Devon.<p>

"What's happening? Is Chuck okay?" She asked sleepy.

"Yeah, he's fine. Sarah hasn't gotten to him with the medication yet but he seems fine."

She sat up.

"Then what is it?"

He pointed to the screen.

"I think something's about to happen at the careers camp."

She looked at the screen, and it looked like Devon was right, something was indeed going on. The girl, Olivia was still sleeping, but Shaw was up and sneaking around, almost as if he was looking for something.

"What do you think he's doing?" Devon asked her confused. "Do you think he's going to kill her? Don't they usually wait to break the alliance until all of the other non-careers are dead?"

"I don't know." She answered, also confused.

But both of their confusion stopped once Shaw with a relived look on his face pulled out a spear from one of the bushes.

"So that was what he was looking for." Devon said monotonously.

As Shaw walked back to their camp Ellie turned her head away from the screen, but a few seconds later a scream filled the living room.

"That poor girl." She whispered. "Think about her parents!"

"I know." Devon said slowly, and lowered the volume on the tv. The Capital had a horrible habit of showing each death over and over again.

"But try to see it from the bright side, now there's only three left."

* * *

><p><strong>So, that's it.<strong>

**Hopefully you'll forget that this chapter ever existed and I promise to update a lot quicker next time! :)**

**Don't forget to leave me a review!**


	13. Chuck versus the letter

**Chapter thirteen!**

**So I know that I promised a quicker update and I'm sorry but life got in the way... Maybe next time! :)**

**So with this story, I know exactly WHAT I want to happen, and the conversations that I want to have, so that's easy to write. But the hard part for me is to write the "middle-things", like the describing parts, and how they feel and stuff. I'm really trying my best to do this as good as I can, and I'm actually pretty good at it in my own language, but it's hard for me in English since I'm not a native speaker. So to make this story a bit better I've decided to get beta-reader! I felt like it really was time to get one** **now… Anyway, a million thanks to Aqua-Lily6 who has beta'd this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games**

* * *

><p>"<em>Chuck?"<em>

He felt like he was deep under water, with thousands of tons of water pushing him down towards the bottom.

_"Chuck?"_

Desperately, he tried to get up, up toward the surface, up to her. Finally, he broke through the surface, and he opened his eyes.

She was as beautiful as ever, although she looked rather worn and tired. He smiled and she smiled back.

"Hey there sleepyhead, how are you?" She asked, still smiling.

"Good now that you're here." He answered as he slowly sat up.

"How long was I…?"

"You were unconscious for about 48 hours."

He nodded, somewhat shocked. For him, it felt as if he had only been gone for minutes.

"But how did you wake me up?"

She pointed somewhat guiltily to a small bottle standing next to her.

"Medicine? Did Haymitch send you that? It must've cost a fortune!" He had never believed that Haymitch would have enough money to send them much, let alone medication as it was such an expensive gift.

"Uhm, no, he didn't." She answered, with that guilty look still on her face.

"Then how ...?"

"Well ..." She started slowly. "There was a feast, and I..."

"No…" He interrupted her. "Please Sarah, tell me that you didn't leave this cave!" the shock and betrayal burning brightly through on his face.

"But Chuck I had to! You were dying!" She defended herself. "It was your only chance!"

He leaned back against the cold cave-wall and put his face in his hands. Everything went so wrong. She had risked her life for him. What if she'd been killed? How could he have let this happen?

"Sarah." He started, a bit calmer now. "The feasts are bloodbaths, how do you think I would feel if you died because of me?"

She sat down beside him and leaned back.

"Then you would feel exactly the same way that I felt when you were close to dying. Chuck you saved me when you jumped and took that knife in your thigh. You risked your life to save me and I needed to save you. I had to do this!"

He sighed and nodded, even though what he really wanted was to tell her that it wasn't the same. That he couldn't without her. That he couldn't be happy without her. That he would never be able to forgive himself for letting her risk her life for him…

"What else has happened while I was gone?" He asked, in a bad attempt to lighten the mood.

She leaned closer to him and he grabbed her hand.

"The girl from one, Carina, and the boy from eleven..." She sighed. "Oh, and the boy from two." She remembered, somewhat sadly.

"Oh." Chuck said surprised. "All of them at the feast?"

"Yeah."

Chuck could see that there was something that she wasn't telling him.

"Sarah, what's wrong?"

She released his hand.

"No, nothing." She said dismissive.

He grabbed her hand again and stroke away a few strands of her hair from her face.

"Sarah, please tell me what's wrong."

"That boy from two, he… he died in my arms, and I know that this is weak and all, I just can't get the image of his death off of my mind. Every time I close my eyes I see his and Rue's deaths, and I… I mean I know that they're our enemies but…"

"Sarah" He started slowly. What had she been through to get his medication? "That's the thing, they're not."

"They're not what?" She asked confused.

"They're not our enemies." He knew that he was taking a dangerous move here, and especially considering to where they were, but he didn't care."Sure, they are our competitors, but they've never been our enemies. That's why all of this feels so wrong."

She nodded slowly, that was a new way of seeing it.

"You should really take some rest Sarah. I'll keep guard and you can sleep, I'll wake you if anything happens."

"Thanks." She said. "Yeah I could probably use some sleep."

"Here take this as a pillow." Chuck said and grabbed her backpack. As he lifted it from the ground a small white item fell out.

"What's this?" He asked as he took the small thing in his hand.

It was a small smooth rock, small enough to fit in his palm, and on it someone had carved _Chuck + Sarah._

"Oh, that." She blushed and looked down. "I had nothing to do while I waited for you to wake up, so I, uh, carved that."

He smiled and she looked away.

"Goodnight!" She said loudly, as to put an end to the conversation.

He laughed and sat down at the entrance to the cave, since that was the best place to keep guard, and took out the stone from his pocket.

Gently he stroked his fingers over the cold, smooth surface.

"Chuck + Sarah," He thought, "The couple that could never be."

* * *

><p>"<em>Beep!"<em>

He put the stone back in his pocket and looked out. Was Shaw coming for them already? Or maybe it was that girl Olivia?

Quickly he grabbed one of Sarah's knives and sneaked out off the cave. He looked around, but the small clearing outside of the cave was completely empty except for some birds in the trees.

"_Beep!"_

He turned around with his knife raised, only to realize that the sound came from above. He put his hand at his forehead and squinted up at the sky.

A parachute.

Relieved and a little mad at himself for being so paranoid he quickly walked up to the place where the little silver-parachute landed and opened the little circle-shaped box attached to it.

Eagerly he ran down his fingers into the small box, hoping to find some sort of food in there, but to his great disappointment, the only thing in there was a paper.

Slowly he unfurled the long paper, which was more of a letter. What was this? Haymitch was allowed to send small notes, but they had to be read through by the game-makers before they were sent into the arena, there was no way that he had been allowed to send a letter this long. Confused he started reading the beautifully written letter.

_Chuck read this quickly, you have two minutes before the cameras are back on you and then this letter will self-destroy._

"What the hell?"He thought, but continued reading.

_I work in an organization trying to take down the Capital, andright now I work undercover as a gamemaker. I've tried to do everything in my power to keep you alive, but from what I've seen so far it looks like you value Sarah's life over your own. I can't lose_ _you Chuck, so I've made a plan. Inside the box attached to the parachute there is a small pill. Once you feel like it's_ "_okay to die" you swallow it. The pill is going to slow down your heart-beat and breathing and the doctors here in the Capital is going to think that you are dead. I'll handle with the transport back to district 12, and_ _other complications_ _that might occur. This isn't a waterproof plan, but I hope that it's going to work, and it's also the best shot you have._

_I love you_ _and I'm so proud._

_Mom_

_P.S Once the cameras are back on you, you'll have to act normal,_ _and you can't tell Sarah, that could jeopardize this entire mission! D.S_

Without really thinking he hid the letter in a bush and grabbed the parachute again. After looking for a few seconds he found it, the pill. This wasn't a joke, someone had actually sent it.

He walked back to the cave and sat down next to Sarah, with the pill safely stored inside one of his pockets. Once safe again the shock hit him.

What had just happened? Had he just received a letter from his missing mother? The woman who had been gone since he was nine? The woman who had gotten a job in another district and that would "probably never return" according to their father?

He leaned back and tried to clear his thoughts. He tried to find a pattern in this mess. If it was true that his mother actually was some sort of spy then wouldn't he have noticed? He ought to have noticed that she hadn't worked in the fabric shop like she said she did? He and Ellie had even visited her at the store! She couldn't have faked that could she? But however much he wanted to convince himself that he knew all about his mother, there were certain things that he couldn't ignore: like all of those meetings that they had at home when he and Ellie were small, all the strangers who had come to their house late at night. He and Ellie had always been sent to bed early those nights. When they had grown older the "meetings" had stopped, but if they just changed the location and had the meetings somewhere else he didn't know. Another suspicious thing was his mother's business trips. It wasn't common that people got to visit other districts than their own, but his mother had travelled to other districts quite often to "buy fabrics" .The realization hit him hard. This was true. His mother was a spy. He had just been too naive to realize it. Suddenly he remembered the obstinate game maker that had pushed him to do a better performance in front of the other gamemakers.

_He was_ _just about to leave when he heard someone calling after him._

_"No, wait!"_

_He turned around and realized that someone actually was watching him. A woman who he hadn't seen before was standing by herself at the edge of the gamemakers podium. He couldn't see her face, she was completely covered by her gamemaker's coat, but she sounded very interested in him._

_"Can you throw that one too?" She asked, and pointed at the heaviest ball._

_"I can try." He said and walked up to the weightlifting station again. He bended down and grabbed the ball, and then threw it away with all of his strength. It landed impressively far away._

_"Thank you, you may go now." The woman said, with an undertone of satisfaction. Chuck looked_ _up at the podium again, and realized that all of the gamemakers were_ _looking at him with impressed expressions on their faces. He got their attention at last. He walked_ _out of the training hall with a content smile on his lips._

"Mom." He said out loud, but silenced once he realized what he had done. He had to act normal, if the Capital got any hint about what was going on they were all as good as dead.

He looked down at Sarah, who was peacefully sleeping next to him. What his mom had given him was a lifeline, a way for both of them to live. A way for them to be happy, together.

"If it worked." He thought, there was really a minimum chance that nothing would go wrong with this. It was a very risky plan. But how and when would he do it? He couldn't do it now, because he had to make sure that Sarah would be the winner before he "died". And he couldn't just drop down dead without explanation… He had to make a plan, and a damn good one too if he was to fool the Capital.

Just that second the anthem started playing and Sarah awoke.

"Hi there." She said with a sleepy voice."What have you been up to?"

She sat up and crawled even closer to him until she nearly sat on his lap. Then she leaned her head against his shoulder and he put his arm around her shoulders.

"You know."He answered a bit jokingly."Just been watching you sleep."

She laughed and started drawing small circles with her fingers on his hand.

"No, I'm serious. What have you been doing?"

"I've…" He started, quickly trying to come up with a good lie."I've been trying to hunt just outside here with your knives, but I didn't have any luck."

She smiled and they both looked up at the sky, both of them surprised when a picture filled the sky.

_Girl district 3: Olivia_

The sky blackened again but both of them continued staring at it, none of them knowing what to say.

"But I… There wasn't a cannon!" Chuck started, almost as if he wanted someone to apologize for the misunderstanding. That is wasn't true.

"That means…" Sarah started shocked.

"That it's only you, me and Shaw left." Chuck finished.

* * *

><p>"I… I have to go." Sarah whispered, almost more to herself than to anyone else.<p>

"What? No! Sarah what are you…" Chuck started, but Sarah interrupted him.

"No Chuck I have to. I wouldn't be able to handle it if it would come down to the two of us. I could never kill you! We have to do this!"

She panicked, he could see that. She started to walk around in the cave, collecting her things, counting the knives and taking her backpack.

"I'm leaving half of the knives for you, and you can take all of the food, I'll hunt." She babbled quickly."Where's my jacket! Damn it!"

He grabbed her hand and stopped her from ripping her jacket into pieces. When she turned her face to him he could see that she had tears in her eyes.

"Sarah…"

"I'm sorry Chuck, I love you." She whispered.

She leaned closer to his face, closer than ever before, and their lips met.

The kiss was gentle but passionate; it said far more than words ever could.

"Goodbye Chuck." She said, and walked away without looking back.

"I love you too." He whispered, but it was too late, she couldn't hear him.

What was he going to do? She didn't know that he had to be with her for his plan to work. There was really only one thing that he could do. He had to shadow her. He had to follow her without her knowing. It was the only way to make sure that she was safe.

He quickly went around the cave and collected his things too._Chuck + Sarah_, the impossible couple that he was going to make possible. He was going to follow her, to protect her. He was going to make sure that she would win.

Elated by this happy thought he followed Sarah Walker out into the cold forest. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only one doing so...

* * *

><p><strong>Da da da! Cliffy!<strong>

**Hope all of you are okay with my whole "Oh my mom was a spy" thingy, but I thought that we needed some spies for this story,** **it's after all a Chuck-fic. **J**Hope that it wasn't too complicated!**

**So next chapter will be the big final fight… ;)**

**Please leave a review and don't forget that I really appreciate a long one! **


	14. Chuck versus the final day

**So, the final chapter at the arena… This is also going to be a longer chapter. **

**So how does all of this play out? Read to find out! **

**Well I'm not going to keep you waiting, here we go, the final chapter at the arena, but NOT the final chapter to this fic. **

**To answer **_**MusicalManias**_** question: Yes, in the real story they have a new rule that two can win if they're from the same district, but I didn't want to be a "copycat" so I decided to take a different direction in my story, to get a different storyline in the ending. Also thank you for taking time to leave a longer review, and thank you for reviewing so often. **

**I would like to thank you everyone who has taken time to leave a review, it's much appreciated and really gives me strength to continue this story. I would also like to say thank you to everyone who has taken time to favorite and follow both this story and me as an author. THANKS! It really means a lot! **

**Also this chapter is going to be both Chuck and Sarah's POV.**

**Also, I keep changing the name of this story all the time (as you may have noticed), but if anyone has a good idea of a name for this story then please tell me! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games**

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><p>Chuck Bartowski opened his eyes and sat up for the umpteenth time that night. He was high up in a tree, about fifty meters away from the tree where Sarah, unknowing about Chuck following her, slept.<p>

Each time he lay down to sleep, some stupid part of his brain went:

"_What if she's in danger? What if, right now, she's being attacked by Shaw while you're just lying here sleeping?"_

He sighed and looked away at the tree where Sarah was. It had only been about three hours since they left the cave. Three hours ago everything had been normal, or at least as normal as it got. They had been talking and joking. He had been given a miraculous way for both of them to survive…

He searched through the branches of the tree and found her silhouette, she hadn't moved since the last time he checked, about two minutes ago.

"I need to relax."He thought to himself. "The arena is huge, it can be days before Shaw finds us! And who said that Shaw finds Sarah first? He could just as well find me first! We'll fight, He'll give me a bad injury and I'll kill him, I'll take the pill, and everyone will think that I'm dead… I'll go back to district 12 and wait for Sarah. She'll come home too, and we'll live happily ever after…"

That was the dream-scenario that he had been having in his head for the past few hours. A pretty unrealistic scenario really. If, or when, he and Shaw got into a fight the chances that he would not only kill Shaw, but that he himself would get away without fatal injuries, was minimal. Shaw would probably have killed him before he even had time to get his knife…

He sighed again and checked on Sarah one last time before he finally went to sleep. As he lay down he wondered where all of these dreams and hopes came from. As soon as Sarah's name had been called at the reaping he stopped having dreams and hopes. Even then he felt doomed. When his own name got called he got a new dream, a dream that had been the only thing keeping him sane in the arena. A dream that made him look past all of the killing and horror in the arena:

The dream that Sarah would come home.

That was what he had been fighting for since the reaping, that was what kept him warm at nights. The thought of her safe and happy back in district 12.

When his mom had sent him that letter he had been given a new way to see things. A new chance, a chance for both of them to live. A way for them to be safe and happy in district 12, together. Chuck had accepted a long time ago that he was going to die, but know that he had been given this opportunity to stay alive, he wanted nothing more.

He was afraid to die now, knowing what he could have if he didn't. Knowing all those things that he would miss if his heart stopped.

"I'm going to fight for it."He whispered to himself. "For all of it."

And then he finally fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"<em>Chuck?"<em>

_He moved, but didn't open his eyes._

"_Chuck baby?"_

_He opened his eyes and looked around._

_He was in a large bright room, with beautiful white furniture and a large_ _window with beautiful floral curtains. In the center of the room was a big bed, in which he was laying._

"_Hi there."_

_He looked at his side, and there she was._

_Sarah was laying next to him, leaning on one of her elbows she was looking at him with sparkling eyes. She looked older, not much, but she was at least thirty. With her blond hair shorter, and with laugh wrinkles around her eyes._

_What was this? Some kind of pipe dream? This was all he had ever wanted. The two of them, happy and together. Sharing a future._

"_What is it?" She asked, clearly noticing his confusion._

"_No, nothing, it's just so real."He answered._

"_What do you mean?" She asked, but he never got the opportunity to answer, because just that second the door to the room burst open, and two little kids came running in to the room._

_Both of them flew up on the bed in such speed that he almost fell out of it._

"_I was first, I won!" The older one, a boy that looked like he was about five, happily stated._

"_But it's not fair!" The younger one responded unhappily. She was wearing a pink pajama and in one of her hands she held a brown teddy-bear. She looked like she was about three. "You're much older than me!"_

"_Hey hey hey." Sarah calmed them down. "What's going on?"_

_The boy crawled over to Sarah and sat down in her lap._

"_We had a competition." The girl started."About who would get to your bed first. Stephen got her first, but he's faster than me! It's not fair!"The little girl complained._

"_But you can't change the rules now that the competition is over!" The boy responded. "That's not fair either Emma!"_

"_Okay calm down both of you." Sarah said slowly."Let's say that both of you won, is everyone happy then?"_

_The boy and girl nodded._

"_Okay then, both of you won!"_

_The girl and boy smiled and the little girl crawled over to sit in Chuck's lap. _

_Terrified he felt the small child cuddle down in his lap and then she grabbed his hand in hers. _

"_So, who wants me to make some pancakes?"Sarah said with a smile._

"_I do! I do!" The girl and boy yelled, and in a few seconds they were down from the bed and out of the room._

_Sarah laughed and climbed down from the bed. _

"_Are you coming honey?"She asked him._

"_Umh, yes, of course." He babbled, and stepped out of the bed too, and followed her down some stairs to a big modern kitchen, with color-full toys everywhere on the floor._

"_So, chocolate-chip or banana pancakes?"Sarah asked, as she tied a white apron with the text "World's best mom" around her waist._

"_Chocolate-chip!" The two kids yelled at the same time, and Sarah started to laugh._

"_Then chocolate-pancakes it is!" She responded with a smile._

_The two kids sat down and Sarah begun with the mixture. Chuck was just about to sit down too when he felt someone tugging his shirt. He turned around and saw the little boy looking at him with big eyes._

"_Dad?"_

"_Umh, yeah?" He responded, somewhat uncomfortable._

"_Who is that?"The boy asked, and pointed at the window._

_Chuck turned around, and looked at the window. Outside it stood Daniel Shaw, with a gun in his hands, and an evil smile on his face._

"_No." He whispered, but then Shaw raised his gun and everything went black._

* * *

><p>Chuck awoke with a start, and sat up. He was sweaty, but the air was ice-cold. Careful not to fall out of the tree he put on the jacket he had been using as a pillow, he didn't feel like falling asleep again.<p>

He leaned back and sighed. It had been a great dream, and a really vivid one too, well at least until the ending. That dream had showed the two ways his life could end up: Either he would end up happy with Sarah, or Shaw would kill them both. But he didn't need a dream to tell him which was they nicest ending.

He closed his eyes again and tried to relax, but it was impossible. He didn't want to fall asleep again. Closing his eyes would mean pressing play at a tape that he knew inside out. At first they were a happy little family, and the Shaw came and ruined it. That was it, every time. That was his real-life situation too. He could succeed and get everything he had ever dreamed of, or he could fail and everything would be destroyed. He didn't need his dreams to remind of how much was at stake.

Sarah. He looked at the tree where she was resting. Tired he searched through the branches, looking for her silhouette. But there wasn't any. More carefully he searched through the tree again, still nothing.

"It's probably the wrong tree." He tried to calm himself, but a small alarm-clock was beginning to ring inside of him.

Desperately he searched through the other trees too, but nothing. She was gone. He had only been asleep for about an hour, but she was gone.

He had lost her.

Quickly he gathered his stuff and climbed down the tree. Where was he going to look for her? Had Shaw taken her? Maybe she had just decided that she wanted to walk a little further before resting? Maybe she was dead? But he hadn't heard any cannon…

At last he decided to walk towards the Cornucopia. That was where the "big final fight" almost always took place. That was his best chance to find her.

* * *

><p><strong>Sarah's POV<strong>

She was so thirsty. She had been stupid enough to leave the bottle of salt at the cave. How was she now going to get clean water? She could at least have taken some of it! Tired she sank down against a big rock. She had been walking for hours, with a half an hour rest in a tree. Now she was back on her feet and ready to win the whole thing. Except that she wasn't. She wasn't ready to do anything. When she first left the cave she had tried to become Sarah at the training center. The Sarah that had no emotions, the Sarah that could do anything. But it was impossible. After those days she had spent with Chuck she couldn't go back to being that person. She knew now that if Chuck died then she wouldn't be able to act like nothing had happened. She could no longer fool herself into thinking that she could be happy if she won. That nothing had happened between her and Chuck, cause something had happened. She had fallen in love, but it was a doomed love, and there was nothing they could do about it. So she had done the only thing she could've. She ran. She kissed him and ran. What else could she have done? If she had stayed then it could've come down to the two of them, and how were they supposed to kill each other? So she ran and hoped that they wouldn't have to see each other get killed.

It all felt so strange. How her biggest dream about Chuck was to avoid seeing him get killed. Or for him to see her get killed. She honestly didn't know if she even wanted to win anymore.

She looked thirstily at the water in a small pound beside her. She had to start walking again, she had to keep moving otherwise she would fall asleep.

She rose and with aching feet she continued to walk.

She walked for hours, and at dawn she got to the Cornucopia. It was a beautiful sight. On the meadow was a light mist, and the pink clouds showed that the sun would start rising at any minute. She inhaled the cold but fresh breeze and took in the scenery in front of her. This could very well be her last sunrise. As if he had read her mind a voice behind her said:

"Enjoying your last day in life?"

She turned around, and there he was.

Daniel Shaw was standing with his hands crossed over his chest and looked at the sky with an unreadable face.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He said when she didn't answer.

"Yes, it is." She answered, while she searched for hidden weapons on his body.

"So, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Shaw asked, and finally turned to face her.

She quickly reached inside her jacket and grabbed her knife.

"That would be the hard way." Shaw said with a smile. "But I can't say that I'm unhappy with your choice, I like a good fight, and the audience does too."

"Shut up Shaw." She growled, and stepped closer to him, she really hated his cocky attitude.

"What's with this angry attitude Walker?" Shaw asked with an evil smile.

He took a step forward and now they were only three feet apart.

"Are you sad because you didn't get the happy ever after ending with lover boy?"

He sighed, and fingered with the knife in his hand.

"Let's end this pathetic little love story huh? To save the rest of us the nausea we get from watching it."

He raised his knife and she did the same, and then the fight was on.

* * *

><p><strong>Chuck's POV <strong>

How far away could the Cornucopia be? He had been walking for hours, and he couldn't even see the big meadow yet. The cave had been further away than he had thought.

He looked up at the sky. Slowly the black sky was becoming pink. Dawn was close. He pulled the jacket tighter around him and continued walking. He was going to save her. He couldn't give in to his exhaustion or to his aching body. He had to continue, for her.

Half an hour later he stepped through the bushes that surrounded the meadow where the Cornucopia lay. It was an amazing sight with the sunrise and the golden Cornucopia in the middle, and he shivered as he thought about all of the lives that had ended there. All of the dreams and hopes that had been crushed to pieces, and then disappeared, just where he was standing. He looked around the big meadow, but froze as he discovered two silhouettes on the other side of the meadow. Slowly he walked closer, maybe it was some wild boars? As he got closer one of the silhouettes suddenly threw himself over the other one. He squinted at them, and realized that they were both too big to be wild boars, they were humans, and not just any humans, it was Sarah and Shaw.

Before he could do anything Shaw had knocked Sarah down on the ground, and she remained lying down. Shaw raised his knife and walked closer to her.

Panicked he started running to them, and before he had made any sort of plan in his head he had thrown himself over Shaw. He hit with such speed so that both of them, still with a tight grip around each other, rolled away several feet.

"What the hell?" Shaw yelled as he quickly stood up and backed away.

"What?" Chuck asked cockily as he quickly stood up too."You can't handle a little competition?"

Shaw growled and stepped closer, but kept looking nervously at the place where Sarah was laying. Chuck looked over at the place where Shaw was looking, and noticed that Shaw's knife lay in the grass. He had dropped it when Chuck had hit him.

"Not so cocky without your weapon huh?" Chuck asked, but his happy moment quickly ended when he realized that the blank item next to Shaw's knife was his own knife.

"So, I guess we'll have to solve this the old fashioned way? Man to man." Shaw stated, and looked at Chuck again.

Chuck looked away from what had felt like his last lifeline, and looked into the evil eyes of Daniel Shaw.

"I guess we'll have to." He answered, sounding a lot cockier than he actually felt.

Before he even had time to tie his fists he had gotten an elbow in his face, and he straggled backwards. As he felt the blood begin to run down from his nose he stepped closer again, only to be met by a new blow. Blinded both by the pain but also by blood streaming down in his eyes he once again staggered backwards, and felt his face swollen up.

"Isn't this fight going to way you had imagined? Poor little baby… First you get killed, and then I'm going to kill your girl okay? I'm going to make her suffer, real bad. She is going to endure more pain than anyone ever has."As Shaw spoke he looked up at the sky and sighed, almost as if he was enjoying the situation.

"I'm not going to let you touch her!" Chuck yelled as he once again stepped closer to Shaw. Substantiated by the threats against Sarah he hit Shaw in the face with all of his strength, and now it was Shaw's time to stagger backwards.

"You're not going to touch a hair stray on her head okay?" He yelled as he once again prepared to hit Shaw in the face, but this time Shaw was faster. As Chuck raised his hand Shaw grabbed it and twisted it behind Chuck's back. As Chuck tried to drag it back Shaw tripped him over and he fell down on the ground with a thump that took away his breath.

He desperately tried to get up again, but Shaw was too strong. Confused he watched as Shaw was digging after something in his pockets, but the confusion stopped when Shaw pulled out a knife.

Shaw looked at his wide eyes and smiled.

"I never said that I would play fair. I had this one here all along."

"How very brave and honest of you." Chuck managed to say as he struggled to get up again.

Shaw just smiled and slowly raised his knife.

"Say goodbye Chuck."

But as he lowered the knife he got a strange expression in his face and he looked down. Chuck looked down too, and discovered the reason to Shaw's pause.

Out of Shaw's stomach was a silvery object stuck, namely a knife. Chuck quickly stood up and backed away.

Shaw looked confused down at the blood that was spreading over his shirt and swayed a bit.

Behind Shaw stood Sarah with wide eyes and a bad bruise in her face.

"You bitch." Shaw whispered and before Chuck could react Shaw had shoved his knife into Chuck's breast. Then Shaw fell down and the cannons confirmed his death.

"Boom!"

"Chuck!"

Sarah ran over to him and he fell to the ground too. Shocked he looked down at the blood spreading all over his shirt.

"Oh my god! Chuck!"

Sarah knelt beside him ripped up his shirt. She gasped when she saw the wound, and he knew that there was nothing she could do.

"Maybe if I take my jacket as bandage? Do you have water? We need to clean it."

Sarah started to take off her jacket and he stoppd her with his hand.

"Sarah."

"What?" She whispered, and he knew that she was panicking.

"Stop."

"What do you mean? No I can't stop! If I stop then you'll… you'll…"

Tears filled her eyes and she continued to take her jacket off.

"No Sarah, let it be."He whispered hoarsely.

"What? No! I can't do that!" She answered quickly."We have to stop the bleeding."

"Sarah." He said, more firmly this time, and winced in pain as the knife moved slightly. "You have to listen to me, there is nothing you can do, this is a fatal injury, I'm going to die anyway."

Her eyes overflowed at his direct speech and he grabbed her hand.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't live without you Chuck!"

She crumpled her jacket and laid it under his head, and he stroke away a strand of hair from her face.

"Of course you can. You're Sarah Walker, the bravest person I know."He answered hoarsely as he tried not to show her much pain he was in, she was suffering enough as it was.

"But I love you Chuck!"She whispered with tears streaming down her face.

"I love you too." He whispered back, as he thought of the dream he had had earlier that day. That would never come true. The two of them together, having a family, that would never come true. His plan had failed, and he was dying. Slowly he reached inside his pocket and found the small pill. There was no use in taking it, he would be dead within minutes anyway, and he had no chance, all of the cameras where at the two of them. _Chuck + Sarah_ would remain being the couple that could never be.

"Here, take this." He whispered as he handed her the small rock. "Then I will always be with you."

She grabbed the rock and looked at it.

"Chuck + Sarah." She whispered, and he knew exactly how she felt. How unfair it was that the two of them never got a real chance with each other, how unfair it was that it had to end this way, how unfair it was that their dreams would never come true.

"I will never forget you Chuck Bartowski." Sarah said, and bent down to kiss him. Their lips met and then he whispered:

"And I will never forget you Sarah Walker."

And then Chuck Bartowski's heart stopped beating, the cannons released one final bullet, and Claudius Templesmith's voice boomed around the meadow.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the winner of the 84__th__ annual Hunger Games!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Soooooo<strong>

**That was a bit of a surprise huh?**

**How will this mess play out? Well stay tuned to find out! **

**So right now I'm thinking about if I should continue with this story when the whole games-storyline is over, and if I am then I could really use some ideas for a new storyline, so if you guys have ANY ideas at all then please leave me a PM or write it in a review. **

**Please leave a review, and don't forget that a long one really is appreciated! **


	15. Sarah versus the celebration

**So we are out of the arena, but the drama continues… ;)**

**In this chapter we will follow Sarah, and see how she feels about her victory.**

**So I have a new Beta-reader: Thanks a million to Devangel6!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games.**

* * *

><p>Empty. She felt empty.<p>

She looked out over the edge of the roof. Below her in the streets they were celebrating. Everyone was celebrating her victory, well except for herself.

She sat down and leaned back against a chimney. For the past few days she had escaped to the roof of the training center. Things were better up there. There was no talking about the games, no talking about what she would do with her future. No talking about him.

She turned around as she heard someone opening the door.

"You can't hide up here forever, you know." Haymitch stated and sat down beside her.

She didn't move, but she turned her face away from him and stayed quiet.

"I know how hard this is Sarah. I know that everyone here tells you that they know how you feel... They don't, but I do. I've been through this myself. And if it's about him then I know how that feels too… When I returned home victorious, the regime had killed my mother, my little brother and my girlfriend, so trust me, I know how you feel."

She was shocked, he had never told her about that before, but she kept quiet.

"It's hard to know that everyone else who was with you in the arena are dead now, but you have to stop thinking about that Sarah. Chuck would have wanted for you to be happy."

She winced slightly when she heard his name, no one had mentioned it in front of her like this, and looked at Haymitch. Back home she had always disliked him, everyone had. He had the money that so many in her district dreamed about. He could do whatever he wanted, he never had to go to bed hungry, but instead he lived in a neglected house and spent his days drinking. She had always envied him the possibilities he had, but now she wondered if she would end up just like him. Every year from now she would have to be a mentor to the kids from district 12. Every year she would have to travel with them to the Capital and return home without them. How was she going to cope with that? She would definitely end up like Haymitch, or worse.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because…" Haymitch started.

"Because what?" She interrupted.

"He told me so Sarah. This… This was what he wanted."

"What?" She whispered with confusion all over her face. "What do you mean?"

"I…" Haymitch started, he never planned on telling this to Sarah, it would just increase her sorrow.

"Tell me."

Haymitch sighed.

"He came to me before the games and told me to send all of the gifts from sponsors to you, because they would be wasted on him."

"Why would they be wasted on him?"

"Because… He wanted you to win."

"What?" Tears filled her eyes. "No! What are you saying?"

Haymitch looked at the devastation on her face and continued slowly.

"He said that he had no chance in winning, he wanted it to be you, and he succeeded Sarah, he wanted you to live, so don't be sad. You are alive, this was what he wanted, and he got it."

"No." She whispered. That couldn't be true. He hadn't even been trying? He had sacrificed himself for her? He had jumped in front of her when Shaw threw that knife…

He had sacrificed himself for her…

Tears,as big as grapes, started to stream down her cheeks, but she didn't care. His plan all along had been to keep her alive, and she had been so rude to him! She had pushed him away! And now he was dead…

After a while Haymitch left her alone and she watched as the sun set in the horizon. Down on the streets the volume of the party rose, and she cried even harder. How would she ever get past this?

* * *

><p>"Sarah."<p>

"Yes?"

"Look at me."

She turned around and looked into Cinna's dark eyes. He was preparing her clothes for her victory-party, which would start an hour later.

"I know that this is going to be a tough night for you. I can't even imagine how tough, but I know that it's going to be difficult. Is there anything I can do to make it easier? Anything?" Cinna asked her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"No, I'm fine, it's okay." She answered and resisted the urge to look away from him.

"Sarah." He said firmly, and sat down with her on the small couch next to them. "I know that you're not okay, so please tell me, what can I do for you?"

She looked into his worried eyes and chose her words carefully, because she knew that if she said too much then she would break down again, and she couldn't cope with the tears, not again.

"I… I just… I don't want to see it all again, you know? I see it every time I go to sleep, and I don't want to see it again now." She answered him quietly, while she fiddled absentmindedly with a button on her shirt.

He nodded thoughtfully and then he looked at her again.

"Sarah, when you feel like it's too much then look at me, okay? Maybe that will help?You can also sing, that's what I do, it helps too."

"Sing? You want me to start singing?" She asked him confused.

"Yes, well not out loud, but in your head. Do you have any song that you know the lyrics to? Or maybe a poem?"

She thought for a while.

"Yes, I do."

"Good, then try to sing the song in your head over and over again, and you'll forget about the rest."

She looked at him and grabbed his hand.

"Thank you Cinna."

He smiled and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I'd do anything for you; you're my firegirl."

* * *

><p>"So, are you ready Sarah?" Effie asked her exited.<p>

"No, and I will never be." She thought to herself.

"Yes, let's do this."

They walked out of the small room and onto the stage, only to be met by a sound so deafening, that she almost wanted to run back inside again.

"Sarah!"

"Go district 12!"

"The girl on fire!"

"We love you Sarah!"

A storm of applause; screaming and confetti everywhere. Hands reaching out to touch her.

What the hell was wrong with these people, twenty-three young teenagers had died, and they were cheering?

She smiled awkwardly and was led to a big chair in front of a tv-screen. This was it, the first challenge. The games-summary.

Her night was divided into three parts. The first part was the summary of the games. They showed her clips with the highlights of the fights and a repeat of every death. Like she needed a reminder…

The next part was her victory-interview with Caesar Flickerman. That would also be difficult. She had been a mess at her last interview, and now they expected even more from her since she was the winner.

The last part was her victory-dinner, a very formal dinner with tuxedos and incredible ball-gowns, for her and her sponsors.

"And apparently for Chuck's sponsors too." She thought to herself. "Since their gifts had ended up with me instead of with their rightful owner."

She sat down in her excessively ornate victory throne, and a large screen was put in front of her.

Everyone became silent, and the video started.

_"War." The cold voice that belonged to President Snow started. "Terrible war. Widows, orphans, __motherless children__. This was the uprising that rocked our land. 13 districts rebelled against the country that fed them, loved them, protected them. Brother turned on brother until nothing remained, and then came the peace. Hard fought, sorely won. A people rose up from the ashes, and a new era was born. But freedom has a cost. When the traitors were defeated, we swore as a nation we would never know this treason again… And so it was decreed that each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up in tribute one young man and woman, to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage, and sacrifice. The lone victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness. This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future."_

The speech ended with ovations, and then it started:

First, they showed her interview with Ceasar before the games, and then they continued on with some new footage of her training. After that they showed the Cornucopia scene, and her hell began. Every death was shown at least three times. In normal speed, in fast forward and in slow-motion. She felt like throwing up, and desperately searched for Cinna in the audience. When she couldn't find him she panicked, but remembered what he had said to her:

_"__You can also sing, that's what I do, it helps too__."_

She searched in her memory for a song, and then she remembered it:

"Birds flying high you know how I feel…" She began as she tried to remember what the next line was.

"Sun in the sky you know how I feel."

She looked up at the screen and saw herself and Rue laughing happily, and she quickly looked down again.

"Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel. It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me."

She swallowed and felt the tears sting in her eyes.

"And I'm feeling good."

* * *

><p>"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah… Who would have thought that you would end up here again?" Caesar said to her and laughed. "No I'm just kidding with you, but tell me, how does this feel for you?"<p>

She looked up at Caesar Flickerman. They had just started her interview, the second part of her hell night. Part one was over, thank god, and she had made it without any major flaws, but mentally she was a wreck. They had showed her entire love-story with him. Everything. She had closed her eyes and repeated "I'm feeling good" so many times that she wondered if she already started going crazy. But now it was over, and she was facing part two.

"It feels good." She answered monotonously, and forced herself to smile.

"Good, now, I know that this subject is a bit sensitive, but can you please tell us a bit about Chuck? What kind of person was he? How did you feel when he died?"

She looked at him with wide eyes and realized that her mouth was open.

"I… He…" She started, not knowing what to say. She couldn't do this, she had to get out of there. And then she suddenly started to think about Ellie, Chuck's sister. She deserved to hear it. He deserved it too. A speech about it was the least she could do for him.

"He…Chuck Bartowski, was my best friend, maybe my only friend, he was... Is the nicest, most honest and amazing person that I have ever had the honor to meet." She started. "He fully enjoyed his life and faced setbacks with a smile. And he would make me smile too. Chuck taught me to see the beauty in the world, and he taught me what it was like to have a friend." She looked directly in to the camera as she continued. "Ellie, Morgan, Devon and everyone else who knew Chuck, also families and friends of Rue, Casey, Maria, Carina, Olivia, Daniel, everyone who died, I am so sorry for your loss." And then she looked down in silence.

"I…"

For the first time in his whole career, Ceasar Flickerman didn't know what to say. Never before had a tribute expressed its sorrow over the death of another tribute, and there was a reason why. Things like this weren't supposed to happen.

He recovered quickly.

"Beautifully said Sarah. Moving on, what are your plans for the future?"

Sarah smiled, and for the first time since the reaping she felt proud of herself.

* * *

><p>"Miss Walker?"<p>

She looked away from the beautiful landscape outside her train window and looked at her nervous assistant.

"Yes?"

"We'll be arriving at the train-station in five minutes, and they wanted me to make sure that you were ready."

She smiled at him and he relaxed a little.

"Yes I'm ready."

He bowed and left the room.

She looked out the window again. The open fields had been replaced with dense, green forest, this was it.

She had been lying. She wasn't ready at all. She wasn't ready to meet her father, she wasn't ready to meet her classmates and most of all, she wasn't ready to meet his family.

She shivered as she thought about Ellie, Chuck's sister. She had always liked Ellie. She was such a good-hearted person, just like him. And now she had lost her baby brother, the only family she had left…

She turned around as she heard footsteps.

"We're here." Haymitch informed her.

She rose and he grabbed her hand. This was really it.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it!<strong>

**Next chapter will be about Sarah's life in district 12, and we will also meet Ellie, Devon and Morgan again, and see how they cope with Chuck's death.**

**Please leave a review, it only takes one minute, and it makes my day.**


	16. Sarah versus coming home

**Here we go again! Sarah is now back in district 12, and how is that for her? Read to find out!**

**Once again a big thank you to my Beta reader Devangel6!**

**This chapter's quick lesson:**

**The Hob: The Hob is the black market in district 12 where you can trade illegal stuff.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games or the song Some die young by Laleh.**

* * *

><p>She looked out the small window on the train door and there he was: Standing in the middle of the small crowd with a bouquet in his hands. She missed him more than she cared to admit herself.<p>

"Sarah!"

Two seconds after she stepped off the train she flung into his arms squeezing the flowers between them as he embraced her.

"Dad!"

She hugged him tightly and burrowed her face in his shirt; she didn't want the others to see her.

They didn't say anything to each other, but she knew how he felt. Relived, sad, angry, hopeful…

"Let's go kiddo."

He put his arm over her shoulders and they walked away. Those who had been waiting at the station expecting some sort of speech would be disappointed.

* * *

><p>As they walked through the cobblestone streets of district twelve she almost wanted to hide her face again. Everywhere they went people were looking; everyone wanted to get a glimpse of her; the girl who survived. Adults stopped working and looked at her with sympathy. Kids in the streets stopped playing to follow after her. She was extraordinary. She was the first girl in eighty four years who had made it back to district twelve.<p>

But the new attention wasn't the reason she wanted to look away. It was the memories that resurfaced. Each store, each street, each place had its own history with him.

As they passed the bakery she remembered that time when he traded the baker to buy her a cupcake:

_She looked around the meadow. Still nothing. Where was he?_

"_Sarah!"_

_She __turned__ and there he was. Running towards her with a small package in his hands._

"_Hi" She said as he sat down next to her._

"_Hi. Sorry that I'm late." He answered while trying to catch his breath. "Here, this is for you."_

_He handed her the small package and she looked at it suspiciously._

"_What is it?"_

_He smiled at her._

"_Open it and check for yourself."_

_Slowly she unfolded the small package. Inside of it was a beautifully decorated cupcake, covered by frosting in white, blue, pink, purple and red, and in the middle there was a green S._

"_A cupcake? How did you get this? You didn't steal it did you?" She asked him worriedly._

_He laughed._

"_It's nice to know that you think so highly of me. No I didn't steal it, I bought it for you."_

_She looked at him with wide eyes._

"_Bought it? Did you win the lottery?"_

_He looked at her with a sarcastic "Yeah of course I won the lottery" face._

"_No, I __traded the baker for it, to give it to you as a gift."__  
><em>

_She __stared__ at him with __amazment__._

"_But it's not even my birthday! __Why would you do that?"_

_He __grinned, his eyes sparkling with mirth, turning his gaze innocently__ up at the sky._

"Well_ because it's Tuesday and I just wanted to see the smile on your face... But I get it, no __more gifts!"_

"_No, it's not that!" She answered quickly and put the cupcake down beside her. "I was just surprised that's all. How much did it cost?"_

_He looked at her for a second and then looked away._

"_Chuck, tell me."_

"_It..." He started. "__It's __a gift. You don't tell somebody how much their gift cost, that's rude."_

_She looked at him like he just had explained to her that he was an alien._

"_Chuck Bartowski if you don't tell me how much this cupcake cost __in two seconds I swear I'm going to…"_

"_Okay, okay." Chuck interrupted her__,__ laughing. "It cost me __a rabbit and a squirrel__."_

"A rabbit_ and a squirrel__? Chuck that's way too much! I can't accept this! "She said upset._

"_Yes you can Sarah" He replied calmly. "It's a gift and I want you to have it."_

"_Fine then." She said and split the cupcake in to two pieces._

"_What are you doing Sarah?"_

_When she was done she handed him one of the pieces and lay down in the grass._

"_I'm sharing my gift with you."_

_He looked at his cupcake-piece and then back to her._

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yep."_

Sarah smiled at the memory. That one cupcake had tasted better than any of the food in the Capitol; frankly it had tasted better than any food she had eaten in her whole life.

* * *

><p>Everything along the way brought back the memories. When they passed the shoe shop she remembered that time she, Chuck and Morgan went to buy Morgan some new shoes. They had been so exited, it was the first time they bought new shoes that weren't already used, and they had been playing around in the store trying out different shoes until the store-owner had gone mad and kicked them out.<p>

When they passed the small book-shop she remembered all those days she and Chuck had spent reading in there. They could never afford to buy a book, but the old women who owned the store was very kind and let them read anyway.

When they passed the graveyard she thought about those times when she and Chuck had gone to Chuck's dad's grave to put some flowers there. Now Chuck would get his own grave there…

"Dad?" She asked as she realized that they were going in the wrong direction. "Where are we going?"

"Honey we have a new house now, remember?"

Of course. Each victor was given its own house in "Victor's village." Large, beautiful villas in different colors, with expensive furniture coming directly from the Capitol, about a dozen were built in each district. But only one was occupied in district twelve by Haymitch now on, she would be his new neighbor.

The one thing besides her father that she had missed was her home, and living in a house built by the Capitol was the least thing she wanted right now, but what could she do?

They walked a small path up to the beautifully decorated village, and her father stopped outside a huge yellow house.

"I thought about picking the green house since you like the woods, but I figured that it could be too much like the…" He stopped talking and looked nervously at her.

She knew what he was going to say. That it looked too much like the woods in the arena, and she was glad that he had picked the yellow house instead.

"This is great dad. Thanks."

Her dad went into the house but she stayed outside.

"Yellow." She thought. "Yellow like the sun."

* * *

><p>She walked into the large house through a big bright entrance with beautiful white furniture and large windows. On one side of the entrance was a kitchen with a big wooden table in the middle, and on the other side there was a big living room complete with a TV and a beautiful fire place, and in front of her was a stair case which led to the second floor.<p>

"What do you think?" Her father asked her.

She turned around and forced herslf to smile.

"It's great."

He father smiled too.

"I hope you don't mind but I've already picked a room. They're all the same size. I put all of your stuff from the old house in your room."

She nodded.

"No it's okay."

Her father looked at her with concern.

"I'm going to put a kettle on the stove and make some tea, do you want some?"

She nodded again.

"Yeah some tea would be great."

He smiled and went to the kitchen.

She followed him to the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was full of food and refreshments, but she wasn't hungry. She closed it and went the second floor. There were many rooms and over the door to her room hung a banner saying "Welcome home Sarah!" and she came inside.

The room was beautiful. It had light yellow walls and wooden floors with a simple bed in the middle and a white desk in the corner. Her father had put her old belongings on the bed, and a framed picture of her mother on the night stand, next to a new photo with the two of them together, smiling.

She picked up the new picture and the corners of her mouth curled up. He had really made an effort to make her feel welcome.

Glancing around she noticed a small box on her desk and walked up to it. It was a radio. She had seen some old or broken ones in the Hob; in fact Chuck had one that he frankenstein'ed from bunch of worthless electronic scraps, but this one was brand new, similar to the ones she had seen in the Capitol. Carefully she pushed the on-button and music filled the room:

"_I will tell your story if you die._

_I will tell your story and keep you alive_

_The best I can. I will tell them to the children._

_If we have some. If we have some."_

Sarah walked back to her bed and lay down.

"_That I've always felt the feeling we would die young._

_Some die young, some die young, some, some die young._

_But you better hold on._

_So many things I need to say to you._

_Please don't, don't let me go._

_And we said we would die together._

_Some die young."_

Sarah closed her eyes listening to the lyrics.

"_I will tell your story if you try._

_But how long will your thoughts of valleys stay green?_

_When the world you were born in changes with seasons._

_Will you run with this dream, or will you run alone?_

_Or will you run against and finally reveal_

_Why some die young?_

_Why some die young?_

_Why some die…_

_Some die young_

_But you better hold on._

_So many things I need to say to you._

_Please don't, don't let me go._

_And we said we would die together."_

Sarah felt her eyes stinging with tears, threatening to burst out.

"_Some die young._

_But you better hold on._

_So many things I need to say to you._

_Please don't, don't let me go._

_And we said we would die together._

_Some die young."_

Tears were now streaming down her cheeks and she was sobbing in her pillow to hide the grief from her father.

Chuck died young. She would never be able to say all those things to him. She missed him so much. There was a huge gaping hole in her chest that would never fill up without him.

"_Some die young_

_But you better hold on._

_So many things I need to say to you._

_Please don't, don't let me go._

_And we said we would die together."_

"Sarah!"

Her father stormed into her room and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so sorry pumpkin. I'm so sorry…" He whispered as he slowly rocked her back and forth, and she cried even harder.

"_Some die young_

_But you better hold on._

_So many things I need to say to you._

_Please don't, don't let me go._

_And we said we would die together."_

* * *

><p>"Sarah?"<p>

"Yeah?"

She put down her cup of tea and put aside the quilt she had wrapped around her shoulders.

"Do you want to go to the Hob?"

She looked out the window. The Hob. The black market in district 12. Last time she was there was the day of the reaping. Chuck and Sarah were frequent visitors there, everyone knew them and Sarah even considered some of them as friends.

"Sure dad, I'd love to."

She threw away her Capitol clothes and washed away her makeup, ruined by her tears, and then she dressed herself in her old clothes and her father's old leather hunting jacket. She looked at her image in the mirror.

Looking back at her was the old Sarah. It was like the games had never happened. Except that his laughter would never again fill their meadow in the woods. No mockingjay would ever repeat his whistling tunes. And she would always miss his warmth next to her when the first sunrays broke through the branches of the trees…

"Are you coming honey?" Her dad called.

"Yeah just a second!"

She looked at her reflection one last time and walked down the stairs. Her father looked at her and smiled.

"Welcome home Sarah."

* * *

><p>They walked out to the street and continued into the center of the town. Walking down the soot covered streets they passed small shops and houses, when suddenly someone bumped into her. She didn't have to look twice to realize who it was.<p>

"Morgan."

The black-haired guy looked up at her with embarrassment tinting his cheeks.

"Sarah."

They just stood there and looked at each other for what felt like forever.

"Pumpkin, I'll drop in on the butcher to buy some lamb chops, I wanted to make something special tonight for dinner." Her father stated and left the two of them alone.

"How are you holding up?" Morgan finally asked.

She looked away trying to avoid his worried eyes.

"Not great."

He nodded.

"No me either. I've had this awful taste in my mouth ever since Chuck passed, which makes me think that wherever he is he's probably eating something icky."

Sarah frowned and Morgan looked down and blushed.

"Strange twin-thing." He mumbled.

She looked at him. That young boy she had left looked so much older. His usual long hair was now short, and that childish spark in his eyes was gone. He had turned in to a man.

"So how are you Morgan? New job?" She asked as she noticed the outfit he was wearing. He wore white pants and some sort of apron.

"Umh yeah." He said and looked down at his clothes. "Mum doesn't want me to work in the mines, and this was my only alternative. I work as an errand boy for the librarian, I distribute the Capitol paper, but it's… If we're going to survive the winter I'll have to get a second job down in the mines within a month."

Her whole life had crumbled into pieces in two months. Her happy, carefree, simple routine was gone. There was only sadness and grief left. She had been hoping that going back home would put everything back to normal eventually, but everything had changed here too. Things would never get back to how they once were. And she realized that there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from herself. Not even here.

"Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"Where can I find Ellie?"

Morgan looked at her sadly.

"I was just at the pharmacy and she wasn't there, so she's probably at home."

"Thank you."

They looked at each other one last time and she smiled at him. It wasn't a happy smile, but she wanted him to know that she was glad that they had met.

"Take care Morgan."

"You too Sarah."

They hugged and she walked over to her father who was standing reading a journal outside a shop.

"You okay hon?"

She nodded.

"Dad there is something I have to do."

He put down the journal and looked uncertainly at her.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded again.

"Yes I'm sure."

"Okay then. Don't be late for dinner?"

"Sure."

* * *

><p>As she got closer to his old home she felt a big lump in her throat. She wanted to run back but forced her feet forward.<p>

She had walked this path so many times. So many days had she been doing exactly this. But now he wasn't there to meet her.

She took a deep breath and knocked on the old wooden door.

"Just a second!" She heard someone call coming toward towards the door.

She resisted the urge to flee and hide in the woods behind his house as Ellie Bartowski opened the door.

"Sarah."

"Hi."

With teary eyes Ellie grabbed her and enveloped Sarah in a fierce bone-crushing hug.

"Come inside Sarah." She let go after almost smothering her.

Sarah hesitated but followed Ellie to the small kitchen where she had met Chuck for the first time. The memory made her shiver and she made sure to sit down in another chair than the one he had been sitting in all those years ago.

"Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Warm milk?" Ellie asked as she went through the black cabinets.

"N.." Sarah began but changed her mind. "Yeah some tea with a little milk would be great, thank you."

Five minutes later she and Ellie sat down face to face across the table, each with a cup of tea in their hands.

"So, Sarah. How's the new house?" Ellie said and looked at Sarah with that warm expression on her face that sets everyone at ease; Sarah had always envied her that ability.

Sarah twisted in her chair.

"It's… It's great."

Ellie nodded.

"Have you thought about what you want to do in the futu…" The words died on her lips and she looked away.

"Ellie?"

She looked at Sarah again.

"I'm sorry, I can't do the small-talk. We used to be friends; can't we just have an honest, straightforward talk? Please I have to know more about what happened. About everything. It's killing me."

Sarah looked at Chuck's older sister and nodded slowly.

"Of course we can."

* * *

><p>"<em>Knock knock!"<em>

Ellie looked away from Sarah at the door.

"I'm sorry I have to get this." She said and rose to answer the door.

Sarah nodded and finished her third cup of tea. They had been talking for hours. About the games, about their life now, about old memories and their life before, about him…

They had been crying and laughing, and Sarah was glad that they had found each other again. Ellie had always been like a sister to her, and she was afraid that there would be nothing bonding them together without him, but tonight had showed that it only made them closer.

"Put him here!" Ellie called to someone and Sarah was alert on her feet.

Two men burst into the room carrying another man. They laid him on the table and Ellie disappeared to get her doctor-things.

"Sarah."

Sarah looked down at the man lying on the table and stepped back in shock.

"Dad!"

Her dad looked at her, but then his eyes rolled back and he began to shake.

"Dad! What's happening to him?" She screamed franticly, squeezing his hand.

Ellie ran up to her father and began to fill syringes with various liquids.

"He's having a grand mal seizure Sarah."

"A what?"

Her father stopped shaking and fell limb against the table.

"Dad!"

She sat down beside him still holding his hand tightly in hers.

He opened his eyes and smiled weakly at her.

"Hi pumpkin."

"What happened dad?" She asked worriedly

"His pulse is dropping Sarah. It might be time to say goodbye." Ellie said slowly, gently squeezing her shoulder.

Sarah looked at her with wide eyes.

"Say goodbye? No!"

She laced her hands around his neck, clinging to him tightly.

"Dad?" She choked out with quivering voice through the tears.

"Sarah." He whispered hoarsely. "Sarah I think you should listen to her. I'm so so sorry pumpkin. I love you."

Tears streamed down her face and she buried her face in her father's shirt.

"Please, dad, don't leave me. I can't stand it without you! Please don't leave me alone…"

Her dad stroke her back and she buried her face deeper to his shirt…

"You're going to be okay Sarah." He father whispered back, and tears started to stream down his face as well. "You're strong, you can handle it, I know you can. I love you."

Sarah sat up and looked at his pale face.

"And I love you too dad, so much."

Her father coughed, and then his eyes rolled back and he stopped breathing.

* * *

><p><em>"Knock knock."<em>

Sarah looked at the door and leaned back in her chair. It was probably Ellie again. She had been dropping by three times a day since last week. She had even offered Sarah to move in with her and Devon, but Sarah had declined. She really felt like being alone right now, mostly because it felt like every person she bonded with died, and she couldn't bear loosing Ellie too.

"_Knock knock."_

She stood up and her legs felt like they were made out of cotton. How long had she been sitting there? Probably for at least six hours.

She walked up to the door and opened it.

Outside was a middle-aged woman with long brown hair and clothes way too nice to be from district 12.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked scanning the stranger up and down apprehensively.

"My name is Mary Bartowski and I need your help."

* * *

><p><strong>Da da da Cliffy!<strong>

**I know that it was mean to kill off Sarah's dad, but you will understand why I did it in the next chapter.**

**So what's going on here? Stay tuned to find out!**

**Please leave a review and don't forget that I love a long one!**


	17. Sarah versus the visitor

**Hello! :)**

**Sorry about updating the chapter so many times, but there was something wrong with the website and the chapter didn't appear. :)**

**This is going to be a short chapter, but it felt better than keeping you waiting. And there really are no excuses when it comes to this chapter's content, rather than my extreme laziness. Sorry :)**

**Once again a big thanks to my Beta Devangel6! Make sure to check out his story Chuck vs Golden Triangle too!**

**This chapter's quick lesson:**

**District 13:**** District 13 was destroyed in the previous rebellion about 84 years before this story takes place. The Capitol destroyed the whole district to prove to the other districts what they were capable of, and to end the rebellion.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games.**

* * *

><p>"<em>My name is Mary Bartowski and I need your help."<em>

Sarah gaped with surprise at the woman outside her door. This was his mother. It had to be. The attributes of her children on the woman's face, like Ellie's hair and his chocolate brown eyes, that were uncharacteristic for the Seam and he could only have gotten from her were a dead giveaway, plus the same name was too much to be a coincidence.

"What do you want?" She croaked out through her tightening throat and suddenly watering eyes, cause this woman was like a ghost reminding her of him.

How many times had she heard stories about Chuck's mother? The woman who had left her husband and her two kids behind… Of course there had been gossip. Travel between districts was prohibited, unless on official business, they used to have a small tailor shop and she would travel to district eight to buy fabrics occasionally, until one time she just disappeared, and the rumors had been many: Some people said that she had died and the disappearing act was a cover-story for an abusive husband. Others said that she had been having an affair with a Capitol-citizen, and that he had helped her to move to a better district.

Sarah didn't know what to believe and now that woman was standing in front of her.

"Can I come in?"

Sarah hesitated but stepped away.

"Yeah, of course."

Sarah showed her to the kitchen and they sat down opposite to each other at the wooden table.

"I'm sad to hear about your father, he was a good man." Mary began and looked directly into Sarah's eyes.

Sarah looked down and nervously peeled off the last of her nail-polish.

"Thank you."

An awkward silence ensued and Sarah wished that she had never opened the door. What could this woman possibly want from her and why now? To give her condolences? Or to talk about Chuck? It was a little too late and she felt anger rising up in her, remembering what Chuck had said about her:

* * *

><p><strong>Two years earlier<strong>

_She sat down __in the old __lumpy __couch in __Chuck's __surprisingly __clean __kitchen and __leaned back __against the old, __peeling __wallpaper.__  
><em>_"We __did well __today.__" __She said __merrily__, __and felt __her mouth __watering __as she __thought __of the deer __they had caught that afternoon.__  
><em>_Chuck __sat down __next to her __and gave her __one __of the apples th__ey had __swapped __at the __Hob__.  
><em>_"We __sure __did__." __Chuck __said __with __his __mouth __filled __with __apple__.  
><em>_Sarah __laughed __and stood up__.  
><em>_"__Where are you going?" _

_She walked out of the kitchen and left Chuck alone with a puzzled look on his face._

"_Sarah?"_

_She stepped into his room and instantly smiled. This room was so… so Chuck._

_The small __room had __light wooden __floors __and dark__-__brown walls __(which she __secretly __had always thought __resembled __Chuck's __eyes).__On the left __side of the room __stood an __unmade bed__, and next to __the bed__ was __a small table__, filled __with all sorts of __gadgets __and tools.__On the __other side of__the room stood __a beautiful white __desk,__which was also __filled with __electronic gadgets__, __and a few __broken __items, and next to them __Sarah __saw what __she was looking for__: __Chuck's __radio.__  
><em>_He had __swapped __it on __the __Hob __one day__ a __long time ago after a very successful hunt. Back the__n,__of course, it __hadn't been in __as good condition__ as it was __now, but __Chuck __had __performed __his __magic __on it__, __and now __it looked __like it __was __brand new. __Sarah __pressed __the __play __button __and the __harmonious __sound of __a guitar __filled the room, and she started to hum along, almost singing out loud.__  
><em>

_"I can __buy __you __one too __if you want to."__  
><em>

_She __turned __around __and __smiled __at __him.__  
><em>

_"It's okay__, __I'm here __almost __all __of the time __anyway__."__  
><em>

_Chuck __smiled __and __walked __up __to the little __machine._

_"I'll __just check __if they have a__ny __older __music,__it tends to __be better.__"__  
><em>

_Sarah __smiled __and __sat __down __on his bed__, only to jump up __again when __she felt __something hard crack __under her.__She lifted __the blanket __and discovered __a frame with __a picture inside.__She picked up __the frame and __looked __horrified __at it. Long spider-web cracks ran along the glass cover, __she had broken it!__  
><em>

_"Chuck__." __She said __with shame in her voice. How would he react to this? She knew that when a person didn't have much they tended to bond with the few things they had.__  
><em>_He __stopped fiddling with t__he radio and __turned around.__  
><em>_She held up__the frame and __shook__ her __head.__  
><em>_"I'm so __sorry, I __didn't know that it __was __there.__The picture doesn't seem to __be damaged__, but I __can buy __a new frame __for you.__I'm really __sor..."_

_"__Sarah." __He interrupted __her.__"It's okay, really. __You haven't __done anything__, __it __was like that __before_."

"_Are you sure?" She asked and sat down on the bed again, this time with the frame in her hands._

"_I am." He answered and sat down next to her._

"_But why?"_

_He took the picture from her and looked at it for a few seconds._

"_You see that woman there?" He asked Sarah, and pointed at the woman in the picture with long brown hair and brown eyes. She looked very happy, with laugh-wrinkles in her face and a baby in her arms._

"_That's my mum. This is the last picture we have of her. Ellie threw all of the other ones away, but I managed to save this one. That's why it was under the blanket. I was afraid that she was going to find it, but I guess that it was in bigger danger there." He said and grinned, but the smile quickly faded._

_Sarah looked at the woman in the picture. So this was his mum. She understood why Ellie had thrown the picture away, she had done the exact same thing when her mum had left. That was what was so unique about Chuck; his ability to give people second chances._

"_Why are you keeping the pictures Chuck?"She asked quietly_

_He looked at her for a few seconds and then looked back at the picture._

"_Because… Because she's still my mum. Sure, she left us, but how can I be mad at her because of that? She got an opportunity to live a better life, I would have been mad at her if she hadn't taken it. Of course I miss her, Ellie does too even if she's too proud to admit it, and I like having this picture to remind me that she's still out there somewhere. That she still exists."_

_Sarah looked down at the broken picture. It had something eerie about it. The old picture, the missing woman in it. The cracks in the frame…_

"_You broke more things than a frame when you left." She thought to herself. "You broke your family."_

* * *

><p>"Sarah."<p>

Mary reached for Sarah's hand and she jarred from the contact, retracting her hand and returning to the present.

"I know how hard it is to lose someone." She tried to level with Sarah.

Sarah looked up and met Mary's brown eyes.

"You do." Sarah thought to herself. "But you chose to lose them"

Mary could see the accusation in her eyes but chose to ignore it.

"What do you want?" She asked as politely as she could, but it was hard to keep the contempt out of her voice.

Mary sighed and decided to cut straight to the chase.

"Sarah I work in an organization trying to take down the Capitol. Our plan is to kill President Snow and to take over the Capitol, and we need your help. People in the districts are very discontent with the government and have been for a long time. It's a powder keg and we just need someone to light the fuse, someone that people would follow. We need a face for our company; we need someone well-known, someone brave who can give hope to the people in the districts. We need you Sarah."

She paused and looked at Sarah.

"Sarah I know that this is sudden, but it is for a greater cause. We need you to free the people of Panem. We are going to overthrow the Capitol, we are going to end the games, the suffering and the hunger, a hero like you on the forefront of our campaign would be a tremendous help to sway the masses in our favor"

Once Mary had finished her speech Sarah had gone completely pale.

"There's…There's a rebellion coming? But that's so dangerous!" She whispered faintly.

Mary nodded.

"I'm not going to lie to you Sarah, being a part of this is very dangerous, but you would be working with professionals."

Shocked Sarah leaned back and put her head in her hands.

There was a rebellion brewing out there. People ready to fight against the Capitol. People willing to risk their lives for a better future, a future without fear, a future without the Games. And now they wanted her to be a part of it…

"And what exactly would I be doing? Where would we be?"

Mary smiled.

"You would be our symbol. Your main job would be to become the embodiment of the rebellion. To be the face and voice of the revolution. We would prepare a series of propaganda film segments to attack the ether to keep the spirit of the fighters strong. Haymitch will teach you how to behave and what to say, he will relay all the essential knowledge to you, he will coach you, he will be your handler. And when it comes to a place to be, we have the perfect spot. We would train you in district thirteen."

Sarah looked questioning at her.

"I'm sorry, I must've heard wrong. You didn't say distrcit thirteen did you?"

Mary nodded.

"I sure did. Sarah district thirteen exists, the Capitol never destroyed it, it was all fake."

Sarah stared wide-eyed at Mary.

"It can't be! All the footage we've seen, it's a deserted city! All those people died..."

"But they didn't Sarah." Mary interrupted her. "The district moved underground, it's still there. It's the center of the rebellion."

Sarah was speechless, and she had no chance to even formulate her next reply as Mary grabbed her bag and rose to leave.

She left the kitchen and Sarah followed her out to the entrance.

"Good luck Agent Walker," Mary said before leaving.

Just when Mary walked out the door Sarah called after her:

"He used to talk about you, you know? He missed you a lot and so did Ellie, don't you want to see her?"

SMary stopped and turned around. Her face was almost completely unreadeble, but wasn't there a hint of pain there too? Before Sarah could be sure Mary turned around again and walked away.

Sarah walked stunned back to the kitchen and sat down. What had just happened? She had just become an agent in the rebellion against the Capitol. It wasn't like she had much left to lose anyway and maybe her sacrifice would bring a better future for the people of Panem. After all she was a Victor and with that came certain responsibilities. It was the Capitol that had taken Chuck away from her along with so many other children of the districts, and maybe this was the way to avenge their deaths. Sarah was determined to give her all for this fight.

* * *

><p><strong>It must be some sort of crime to write a chapter this short and bad, and I'm sorry, I just had to get something out.<strong>

**Liked or not? Please leave a review! :)**


	18. Chuck versus the fish

**Hello everyone! I can honestly say that ****when**** I had finished writing the previous chapter I had absolutely no idea where to take this story. I kept imagining a thousand different scenarios in my head, and a part of me just wanted to say the end and goodbye. I didn't really ****felt**** like I was completely done with this story though, so here we go again, chapter 1****8****!**

**Sorry about the double-post, my computer decided to mess with me and deleted about 500 words from the story when I posted it the first time...**

**I just wanted to tell everyone ****who had**** reviewed/ alerted/ favorited this story and me as an author that I appreciate it so much! Seriously one review makes ****me**** smile for a whole day! Thank you!**

**As I told you before I had my first major writer's block at this chapter, and I don't think I would've made it without my fantastic beta Devangel6. Thank you so much, this story would be a total disaster without you! :)**

**This chapter's quick lesson:**

**Finnick Odair: Finnick is a former games-winner from district 4, he is very well known because of his appearance, apparently he is incredibly handsome. Finnick is about 24 years old.**

**So in this chapter we're having a reunion with a very special person, guess who… :)**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games :(**

* * *

><p><strong>District 13<strong>

"Hey dude, we have lunch now."

He looked up from the huge stack of papers he had in front of him and turned around. In the doorway stood the very handsome, former hunger-games victor Finnick Odair and grinned at him.

"Great, I'm starving."

He followed Finnick out into the hall and walked towards the elevator that would take them up? to the first level, in which the dining room was located. "This schedule sucks." Finnick muttered. "Early morning breakfast and late lunch, I honestly thought that life as a rebel would be free and simple, not with strict schedule added."

Chuck smiled and pressed the up-button on the elevator.

"It's a tough life we're living." He replied sarcastically and Finnick rolled his eyes. "But you're right. Rules here are even stricter than in the Capitol, but it makes this district run like clockwork.

Finnick looked at him with wide eyes and he knew that he had said too much.

"You've been to the Capitol? Why didn't you tell me?"

Chuck looked down and shook his head. He was so bad at this. He had never been good at it; lying had always felt so wrong, except when it came to protecting her of course.

"No no, I've never been there. I just heard it from others, who have."

"Oh." Finnick nodded. "Yeah, but they're right, the Capitol is the same way, rules and strictly enforced censorship and propaganda turn people into obedient, blind puppets, but they have slaves to do all their dirty work, while the citizens are distracted by amusing vanity and shallow pleasures."

The elevator dinged, indicating that they had arrived at the first floor, and they stepped out.

The musty smell of cooked fish swept over them and Finnick frowned.

"Seriously? Fish again? We had fish yesterday! And the day before that!" Chuck laughed and went to get a plate. "Welcome back to real life man, living here is not as extravagant and lavish as what you're used to." Finnick muttered something and looked morosely at the little gray fish-bit that the kitchen-lady put on his plate.

"It's not that I don't like fish, I'm from district 4, I've practically lived on fish my whole life, it's just this fish. It tastes plastic."

Chuck took a bite and smacked exaggeratedly with his tongue.

"Yep." He stated. "It does."

Finnick laughed and looked thoughtfully at Chuck.

"Speaking of districts, you never said which one you're from?"

"Umh no, I guess I didn't." Chuck answered slowly. "I'm from district 3." He replied, and Finnick nodded.

He hadn't told the truth to anyone. He couldn't tell the truth to anyone, that was one thing he was sure of. Everyone here thought he was Carl Green, a computer whiz from district 3, working here to help the rebellion with technological stuff. What else could he have said? What actually had happened was so unbelievable that he sometimes felt like he had to pinch himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

* * *

><p><strong>Two weeks earlier<strong>

"Chuck?"

He opened his eyes and blinked. The sudden light was too bright and he closed them again.

"Chuck honey?"

He looked up again and forced his tired aching body to sit up. Where was he?

He was in a large dark room with no windows and almost no furniture. The only objects in the room were the bed he was in and the machines that were attached to his body. He shivered, there was something creepy about the room, it made him feel so small, so forgotten. "What is this?" He thought, and then he remembered. The arena, the fight, Shaw's death, his death…

"So this is what happens when you die." He thought and looked around again. "You're all alone in a depressing room with only your memories to accompany you."

"Chuck."

He turned instantly and realized that he wasn't alone in the room. A woman was standing in the corner and looked scrutinizingly at him. "Who are you?" He whispered. She walked up to him and he leaned back shocked. That face ... Those brown eyes ... That smile ...

"Mom?"

She smiled even bigger and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Yes Charles, it's me." He blinked a few times, and each time he opened his eyes, he was sure she would be gone, but she stayed.

"Are you ... Are you dead too?"

She leaned forward and looked intensely at his face while she gently stroked her hand over his hair. "I'm not dead Chuck, and neither are you." He looked blankly at her and snatched away his head as she once again leaned closer to touch him. "What? What are you saying? I died! I died at the arena and Sarah won!" He said with panic in his voice.

What if something had gone wrong? What if somehow Sarah had died before him and he had won? But that was impossible! But it was also the only logical explanation to this….

"Where's Sarah?" He demanded and looked directly into his mother's eyes.

She sighed and leaned back again.

"Chuck you have to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say, as some of it might be hard to understand." She replied in a calming soothing voice.

"She's dead." He thought. "She's dead and it's all my fault."

Mary took a deep breath and began:

"Chuck you know that letter I sent you? The one where I explained about my… new job? I'm a member of a rebel group, the rebellion that is going to free the districts and overthrow the Capitol. These past years I've been working undercover as a gamemaker in the Capitol. I saw what you did for Sarah Chuck, I understood that you wanted to save her, but I couldn't lose you Chuck…. That's when I sent you that letter, that's when I came up with that plan to save you."

Chuck looked incredulously at her. "There's a rebellion? Why didn't you tell us so instead of just disappearing? And your plan, I didn't even take the pill!"

"No." She answered monotonously. "You didn't. To be honest you quite scared me for a while there Chuck, I thought I was going to lose you."

"And what happened?"

"Your body was transferred to the Games-center in the Capitol, they take all bodies there, and some of my colleges were able to start your heart again. But it was close Chuck, very close."

She looked at him with that emotional, motherly face again and he looked away. He wasn't ready to forgive her; in fact he doubted he'd ever be.

"What now?" He asked her frostily.

Her warm expression vanished and for a few seconds she even looked hurt, but then she continued with her fast, factual style.

"The thing is that a very few people know what I did, and it has to stay that way. If the company becomes aware of my little rescue mission I'm in very big trouble."

She glanced at him quickly and then continued.

"You can't go back to district twelve Chuck, at least not right now. It's way too dangerous, and you have no place to live and no jo…"

"What?" He interrupted her. "Of course I have to go back to district twelve! I have to tell Ellie that I'm alive! I have to tell Sarah!"

Mary looked at him sadly, her face filled with empathy.

"I understand that Chuck, but I'm afraid that it's impossible. Even if you did go back you wouldn't be able to contact them, it would be too suspicious, we can't afford risking it."

He looked furiously at her.

"You don't understand at all! You wanted to leave! You chose to leave us and look what happened! Dad died and Ellie and I almost starved to death! Maybe that's okay with you but unlike you I'm not going to leave my family behind and just hope for the best. "

He saw tears forming in her eyes and immediately regretted what he had said.

"I'm sorry, that was harsh." He said in a calmer voice. "But I'm going, I can't stay here. I need to tell them that I'm okay."

He tore off the cords attached to his body and jumped down from the bed when she finally spoke again.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. "I'm so, so sorry. You have no idea how bad I feel when I think about the pain I've put you and Ellie through. How excruciatingly painful it was to leave you all. How many nights I've cried myself to sleep thinking about you."

She paused and he turned around to face her. Silent tears were streaming down her face and he resisted the urge to look away.

"I had no choice." She sobbed. "I had no choice, but I still regret it every day. Every day I think about what would have happened if I hadn't done it, if I would've stayed."

She paused again and looked at him.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you."

She jumped down from the bed, and before he knew it, she had wrapped her arms around him. He patted her awkwardly on the back and let her calm down. After a while she released him and they sat down on the bed again.

"Chuck." She began. "I left you and Ellie for one single reason: to keep you safe. Otherwise I never would have done it. If the Capitol had found out that there was a rebellion being plotted, they would have killed all of us."

"But why didn't you just quit?" He asked.

She sighed and looked directly at him. Her whole face looked worn and tired, and her skin had a matt pale color, indicating that she hadn't been outside for a very long time.

"It's not that easy Chuck. Your father and I knew too much, we were in way too deep to get out again. One of us had to go, and it was me."

She paused and grabbed his hand.

"Chuck what I wanted to tell you is that sometimes you have to leave, to keep those you love safe. I left to keep you and Ellie safe, and now you have to do the same. They're not safe if you're around them, you would be risking their lives."

He looked down and tried desperately to think of any good argument to make her change her mind, but deep inside he knew that she was right. It was too risky. People would wonder who he was. He could not do that to them, that was just being selfish. He couldn't do that to them…

* * *

><p>Mary put her arm over his shoulder and stroked his back gently.<p>

"This is hard Chuck. It's going to be extremely hard at first, but I know that you'll get used to it."

He nodded but didn't look up.

"What happens now?"

She let go of him and looked at her watch.

"You are going to meet a stylist Chuck. Unfortunately, we have to change your appearance. It's too dangerous for you to look like this; people might recognize you from TV."

He nodded again.

"And then?"

She sighed.

"And then you'll go to district thirteen to join the rebellion."

"Hey Chuck?"

Chuck looked up from his untouched plate with fish.

"Yeah?"

"She's here!"

Chuck looked questioningly at Finnick.

"Who?"

Finnick looked impatiently at him.

"The new girl of course! The one who's going to be our new leader!" He paused and frowned at Chuck. "Are you on drugs or something? Or are you just a really slow thinker?

Chuck smiled at Finnick and looked in the direction where Finnick had pointed, but doing so he almost choked on the fish-piece he had in his mouth.

"Sarah?"

* * *

><p><strong>A bit exciting? I hope it feels a little exciting at least!<strong>

**So does Sarah recognize this new boy as Chuck? Stay tuned to find out!**

**Please leave a review, it seriously makes my day! :)**


	19. Chuck versus district thirteen

**Chapter 19!**

**Hi everyone! I'm so so sorry that I've been keeping you waiting for this long! This fall I started in a new school, and let's just say that free time is rare nowadays… I actually wrote a chapter a few weeks ago, but then my computer got a virus and everything was deleted…**

**Anyways, this chapter is what I finally wrote, and even though I would have wanted it to be a little different, I'm glad I'm finally done with it!It's going to be Chuck's POV again, and how he deals with Sarah coming to district 13. We might also meet some other oldies…**

**As usual a huge thank to my beta, Devangel6, for great thoughts and comments about my writing.**

**Disclaimer:****I still don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games…**

* * *

><p>He lay in his bed, staring up at the white ceiling. He was tired, but housands of thoughts swirling around in his head were making it impossible for him to sleep, or to even relax the slightest.<p>

He closed his eyes for the umpteenth time and tried to push away all of his problems, all of his trouble, but instead, a crystal clear picture of her appeared inside his head.

Sarah. Yesterday he had seen her for the first time in over a month, and it had felt so unreal. Just watching her talk and smile had felt like a dream. She had disappeared from the dining room just after a few minutes, and he hadn't seen her since, but the shock and the questions were still wild within him. What was she doing here? Did she know about the rebellion? Why hadn't his mother said anything? Would she recognize him now...?

He sighed and pulled the covers off of him, there was no point in even trying to sleep tonight.

He pulled on a pair of pants and a sweatshirt, and tiptoed out into the corridor. Without really knowing where, he began to walk. He walked down the stairs and past the sleeping sentinel, out onto the empty mainstreet of district thirteen. Once there, he went forward, and into the building where he was working. He knew that if he got caught sneaking around after curfew he would be in big trouble, but he was too tired to think about that, so he continued on with steady steps toward the one place where he knew he would be able to think clearly.

He continued past the communications floor, and into the elevator, and pressed the floor with apartment E. Apartment E was his favorite place in the whole district. It was an uninhabited apartment on the top floor, which he found by accident during his first days in the district. The unusual thing about the apartment was that it had a six inches wide window that went above ground. He used to sit there sometimes, just to look at the sun, or the sky. It made him feel a bit more as he used to, a little more free. The elevator doors opened and he stepped out into the long, dark corridor.

Almost manically he steered his feet in the direction of E and pressed down the handle, but the door didn't slide up, it was locked. He pressed down the handle again, but with no luck, and backed away from the door. A slight panic began to spread within him; he had to get in there! He had to see the sky and be able to breathe fresh air! He heard steps on the other side of the door and desperately looked around for a place to hide, but the hallway was completely empty, so hiding wasn't an option. He looked at the door again and saw what he had missed before, next to door was a green button, indicating that the apartment was inhabited. Next to the button was a sign where a neat handwriting said "Walker, Sarah."

The door slid open and they were face to face. He felt his heart beginning to beat faster and he desperately searched her face for any sign of recognition, any trace of love in her eyes, but there wasn't any.

"Who are you? Do you want something? "She asked him as she pulled the blue robe she was wearing tighter around her waist.

"I…I…Sorry, wrong room." He stammered, and looked down.

He wanted to run up to her, to embrace her. He wanted to tell her that he was alive, that they could have that future they'd always dreamed of, but instead he stayed still as she closed the door in front of him.

He went as fast as he could down the stairs and out into the street again, but once there his legs stopped obeying him he couldn't walk any further. He sat down on a bench and put his head in his hands.

That empty look in her eyes had felt like a knife ripping up his chest. The lack of love in her voice had felt like a flashback to their training before the games, to the worst time in his life. How was he supposed to do this? How was he supposed to act like nothing was amiss? How was he supposed to go on another day keeping these secrets from her?

* * *

><p><strong>Building F, Defense and War Centre, secret room.<strong>

"So…"

Plutarch Heavensbee, commander of the rebel forces, and also a famous game maker, walked around the small conference room with a big stack of paper in his hands.

"As I'm sure most of you already know, we have a new member on our team." He stopped right behind Sarah's chair and put his hands on her shoulders. She looked a bit uncomfortable and blushed when everyone turned to look at her.

"This is Sarah Walker, our Mockingjay, the spirit of the Rebellion, remember that. If something happens, protect her with your life, understood?"

Everyone in the room nodded, and Chuck did the same.

Plutarch walked back to his seat at the end of the long table, and sighed.

"We have a war ahead of us. People are going to die. Children are going to lose their parents, and parents are going to lose their children, and the outcome of this war depends entirely on us, the people in this room... We are the heart of the rebellion."

He paused and looked at them.

"We are the ones who are going to lead this war, we are going to be the ones responsible for it, so everyone in here needs to know exactly what and who they are dealing with."

He pointed at Mary and nodded.

"You, begin."

"With what?" She asked him confused.

"Introduce yourself Mary! I want everyone in here to have complete faith in one another, so tell them all about you. What's your name? How old are you? Why did you join the rebellion… and so on."

She looked uncertainly at him, but he just nodded at her.

"Go on Mary. It's safe here."

She cleared her throat lightly, and with a stuttering voice she began to talk.

"Umh…Well… My name is Mary Bartowski, I'm originally from district twelve." She paused and looked down for a moment. It was clear that she wasn't used to telling the truth, and that this was hard for her.

"I've been with the rebellion for quite a few years now, and… I joined it when I realized that I didn't want my children to grow up in this world, with the Games and the districts… That's… That's me." She stopped and Plutarch smiled approvingly.

"Thank you Mary! Mary is our informant regarding news about the Capitol, so turn to her if you have questions concerning that." He leaned back in his chair and waved impatiently at them.

"Go on, next person."

One by one they introduced themselves, and slowly they all got to know their new team. The stories that were told were not happy stories, with beautiful and perfect endings, they were stories of pain and loss. Stories of lost children and hunger, stories of death and sorrow. But most important though, they were stories of pure hatred against the Capitol.

"Thank you everyone." Plutarch said as everyone had finished. "That was very brave of you all, and the stories were very touching."

He rose from his chair and walked up to the big screen in the room. As he pressed the small button on the side of the screen it lit up,and the seal of the Capitol appeared.

"These stories are the reason why you are the ones sitting here today. Pain, sorrow and loss are the common denominators in this room, and they are the things that are going to make us the best and most successful team ever. You see you are all very much alike. Gender, age, origin…Those things don'tmatter here, you have all experienced horrible pain, and you all know what it feels like to lose someone close."

He paused and looked up at the seal on the screen.

"You are who you are thanks to the Capitol. You're widows, widowers, orphans... You're strong. You're able to fight back. You are the ones who are going to stop the Capitol."

* * *

><p><strong>Two hours later<strong>

As Plutarch declared the meeting over everyone collected their papers and began to leave the room, but Chuck stayed sitting. After awhile Plutarch tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Are you okay son? Can I help you with anything?"

He faced Plutarch and hesitated slightly.

"Umh…yes actually. I wondered if I could talk to Mrs. Bartowski about some questions I have regarding the Capitol."

Plutarch smiled contentedly.

"Of course! This is great, you're already communicating like a team!"

Plutarch nodded approvingly at Chuck and walked over to Mary.

"Mary! Young Mr. Green over here has some questions for you regarding the Capitol, could you help him with that?" She turned her head and looked at him with an expressionless face before she turned back to face Plutarch.

"Of course." She walked up to the table where Chuck sat and sat down next to him.

"I can lock up after us, so you can go if you want."

Plutarch nodded and left them alone in the stuffy room. As he walked out the door Mary stood up again and went after him. After a while she returned and locked the door behind her.

"It's clear. We have a couple of minutes." She sat down again and looked at him. "We can't meet like this Chuck, it's way too dangerous."

He nodded and looked down. "I know, but I really needed to talk to you."

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I know Chuck. I owe you answers to a lot of questions, and it was stupid of me not to contact you earlier about this."

"Why didn't you tell me that you were going to bring her here?"

"Because I wasn't sure that she would say yes, and because I wanted you to forget about her, to try to at least."

He leaned forward.

"Forget her?"

"Chuck I..."

"Mom." He interrupted her. "Can I talk to her? I mean it's… We've kept secrets before, and I know that if you let us…"

"Chuck." She interrupted him, her voice suddenly much more severe. "I'm sure you two can keep a secret, but this secret is too big to risk. For the past twenty years people have been working with this rising. Most of us have given up our lives for it to succeed. We've left our homes. We've left our loved ones and our children. I'm sorry but you and Sarah's relationship doesn't really matter compared to that. We have big things coming our way, and we have to be prepared for them. Love and relationships will just have to wait."

She looked up at him, and cupped her hand over his.

"Chuck can you understand why I'm doing this?"

He nodded.

"Yes, I understand."

He rose to leave, but she blocked his way out.

"Chuck there's… There's something else I need to tell you."

He looked somewhat impatiently at her, and sat down again.

"I…"She began and he looked questioningly at her.

"Sarah wasn't the only one that I brought from district twelve."

He leaned forward in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What are you talking about? Not the only one?"

She sighed.

"I wasn't sure if I was even going to tell you this, because I know that it makes it even harder for you but you have the right to know and…"

"Right to know what?"

She rose and walked up to the small window that led out to the main streetin district thirteen. The faint light of the streetlights lit up her face and made her look even more tired.

"Your sister's here."

Shocked he rose from his chair so quickly that it fell over and hit the floor.

"Here? Like in district thirteen?"

His mother turned around and nodded slowly.

"Yes. She's working at the hospital in building D."

"B…But how? How did she get here?" He looked up at her with big eyes.

"Does she know about you? Does she know about me? Can I see her?"

The questions were wild within him, and a big part of him just wanted to leave the room and go see her.

"No." Mary said quietly. "She doesn't know about either one of us, and it's going to stay that way. Getting her and her boyfriend here without raising any questions was hard, and I was lucky to succeed. We can't screw this up simply by being selfish Chuck. you can't go see her, you understand that right?"

The joy he had been feeling slowly curbed as reality hit him. Of course he couldn't go see her. What was he thinking?

"No, of course."

His mother walked up to him and embraced him.

"Chuck." She whispered into his ear, still embracing him. "I know how you feel. I visited district twelve a few times after I had left you, and being there, not being able to see you, to hug you… Do it for her Chuck. Help me keep her safe."

She buried her head in his shirt and he hugged her more tightly. When was their nightmare ever going to stop?

* * *

><p><strong>Building D<strong>

He was sitting just a few feet from her. Hidden of course, even though he was disguised. Otherwise there was a chance that she or someone else would come up and ask if he needed help, and he couldn't risk that.

Silently he watched her as she ran from bed to bed, with that efficiency she always had when it came to the sick and injured. His mother had forbidden him to go see her, but he figured that simply watching her didn't count. She looked worn out, her clothes were loose and the dark circles under her eyes were clearer now than ever before. Her life must have been hell since he left. Not being able to walk up to her, to talk to her, it killed him. But thinking about what his mother had said helped him.

"_Do it for her Chuck. Help me keep her safe."_

"I miss you El." He whispered, and then he turned to leave.

* * *

><p><strong>So!<strong>

**I promise next update won't take this long… :P**

**Please leave a review and tell me what you thought about this chapter! Or you can simply leave a review to scold me for never updating… :)**


	20. Sarah versus the camera

**Okay so this is not really a chapter, or I guess that it kinda is, but I think of it as more of a 0.5 chapter. It's barely a thousand words, and really just something to give me more time on "the real chapter". :)**

**Hope you don't mind! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games.**

* * *

><p>Salty tears were streaming down her face, following the contours of it before they fell over her cheek and hit the picture she was holding in her hands. The picture, black and white and ravaged by time, showed the two of them.<p>

His face, tired after months and months of desperate hunger, but still with that big charming smile that she loved so much. Her next to him holding his hand… That day, it had been the happiest day of her life.

* * *

><p><strong>Three years earlier<strong>

_"Chuck!" She whispered eagerly, desperately trying to gain his attention._

_It was Sunday, and they were out in the woods again. She had suggested that he would stay at home today, to take a break from his hunting-lessons, but he had begged her to show him more of the world outside of the district-fence. To be honest she loved having him with her. She loved being able to talk for real with someone without having to be afraid that anyone was listening to them, but even when they just sat down silently, listening to the wind's rustling and the mockingjay's singing, she loved the fact that he was there, that she had someone to share it with. _

_He turned to face her, and she pointed excitedly towards the small grove in front of them, showing him what she had discovered._

_A herd of deer were grazing just a few feet from them. They were three, all fully grown and well-fed. It was the prey of a lifetime, but they had to play it smart, or else they would go home empty-handed._

_She put her finger in front of her mouth and he nodded. They quickly hid behind a fallen tree and tightened their bows._

_She took aim and he tried to imitate her smooth movements. She couldn't help but smile at his frustration. He always looked cute when he tried to prove himself as a hunter._

_She let go of the arrow. With a whistling sound it flew through the air and hit one of the deer in the abdomen. It looked up confused and tried to take a few steps before its legs gave way and it fell to the ground. Now the two remaining deer noticed that something was wrong and they began to worriedly look around. She quickly took out a new arrow and brought down the second deer as well._  
><em>"Chuck, take the shot!"<em>  
><em>The third deer looked terrified towards the position where they were hiding, and started to run away from them.<em>  
><em>Chuck fumbled clumsily with the arrow, but managed to release it in a fairly okay direction and hit the deer in one of its legs. It fell down but quickly managed to get up again. She grabbed her bow, and before the deer could escape she had killed that one as well.<em>

_Chuck rose with a triumphant smile._  
><em>"That was awesome, you're freaking amazing Sarah! Seriously wish I could kick ass like that!"<em>  
><em>She blushed and smiled at him as they rose from their hiding place.<em>

"_We make a good team Bartowski."_

_This was the start of something good, she could feel it. They were so different but as a team they were perfect. Together they would be unstoppable._

* * *

><p><em>"This is the proudest moment of my life." She thought as they entered the Hob with not only one or two, but three deer with them. Everyone, even the peacekeepers, was applauding them. People were fighting to trade with them. They could have anything they wanted today, and to two kids from the Seam that was a huge thing.<em>

_They bought clothes, fabric, piles of food, thread, milk and vegetables. They stayed there for hours buying everything they needed for the winter, and they laughed as they for the first time experienced the feeling of being able to afford._

_"Where are you going?" she asked a couple of hours later as Chuck jumped down from Greasy Sae's table, where they had been sitting eating Sae's meat-soup._

_He didn't respond and walked away to the other side of the big barn._

_She sighed and followed him. Couldn't he at least finish his soup?_

_She found him next to Dana Putt's small stand. Dana was well-known for selling objects from before the Civil War. They were expensive, but the things she was offering couldn't be found elsewhere in the district._

_"What are you doing?" she asked him as he dug around in a small bag next to the table._

_"Aha!" He said and triumphantly pulled out a small black object from the bag._

_He turned to Dana._

_"I'll take this."_

_He gave her the red fabric and the old watch that he had traded for earlier that day and Dana smiled contently._

_"Thank you young man. A very wise choice I must say, that one used to belong to my great grandfather. It still works though, but be careful with it, it's very fragile."_

_Sarah stepped closer and took the black item from Chuck. She turned it in her hands and realized that it was a camera. She had only ever seen one before, the one the Capitol used to film the reaping. Cameras were too expensive for people in district 12. _

_"Chuck!" She said shocked. "Why on earth would you buy this?"_

_He smiled and took the camera from her._

_"Because, I've already bought all the things I needed and because I wanted one. I really had no use for the fabric or the watch anyway."_

_She sighed. Trying to figure out the way Chuck's mind worked was a battle she knew she'd never win. He was so different from her, taking one day at a time, being so honest with his feelings... Maybe that was why it felt so right? Maybe the whole "opposites attract"- thing was true?_

_Chuck gave the camera to the old woman._

_"Dana could you take a picture of us? This is a once in a lifetime-day."_

_She laughed._

_"Of course dear."_

_He walked up to Sarah and grabbed her hand. The sudden touch made her heart beat fast against her chest, and she flushed._

_"Smile." He whispered in her ear. She turned to face him, and a small smile appeared on her face._

_"Thank you." She whispered back._

_"For what?"_

_"For being you."_

* * *

><p>She looked down at the picture again, holding on to it as if it was her last lifeline. The wetness from her tears had made it even blurrier than before, and soon his face wouldn't be recognizable anymore.<p>

"Just like this picture, my memories of you will get blurrier and blurrier, until they're completely gone. After that it will be as if you were never even here, as if you never existed. I'll be on my own for the rest of my life, desperately trying to remember a boy that I once fell in love with."

* * *

><p><strong>Poor Sarah! So "the real" chapter will be up in a few days!:)<strong>

**Please leave a review, and when you do, please keep in mind that I wrote this chapter at 2 am in the morning, :P**


	21. Chuck versus coming home

**Hi!**

**Here's the new chapter of Chuck versus the games! It'll be Chuck's POV, but we are also going to have ****the perspective of someone completely new ****this chapter… Read to find out!**

**I would once again like to say thank you to my Beta, Devangel6, for saving my ass countless times when it comes to this story... I really appreciate it! :)**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Chuck or the Hunger Games…**

* * *

><p>He looked into the terrified blue eyes of the person in front of him, and he knew what he had to do.<p>

"It's me, Chuck. I'm alive."

The blue eyes stared back at him with shock, but the shock was quickly replaced with pure disbelief and disgust.

"Who are you?"

Chuck stepped closer. The cries of help and the sound of the Capitol's rifles were getting closer. They had to leave now or else it would be too late.

"Please trust me, we have to go now or we will get killed."

* * *

><p><strong>Four hours earlier<strong>

"I hope all of you understand the severity of the situation." Plutarch said as he picked up a huge map and placed it on the round tablein front of them.

They were on one of district thirteen's hovercrafts, on their way to district twelve. After weeks of planning they had finally decided upon the first step of the rising: to contact district twelve and to let them know what was going on.

They had all agreed that it was the most convenient way to begin the rising, simply because district twelve was the closest to district thirteen. The plan was simple: she was going to contact the mayor of twelve, tell him about the rising and then ask him to help them arrange transfers so the inhabitants of twelve could start new lives in thirteen. This was supposed to go very smoothly; The plan was foolproof, everything was checked and rechecked a dozen times. Thirteen had started extending their underground tunnels even further, and now the plan was that the tunnels of thirteen were going to connect to the mining tunnels of twelve. Their expectations were very high; they were counting on using the tunnels to transport people, food and munitions across.

"Carl, Samara, Mary, are you all set? Do you have your earpieces in?"

She watched her son and the middle-aged women on the other side of the room nod.

Plutarch took off his horn-rimmed glasses and rubbed his eyes. She knew that he had more fears than he dared to admit about the success of this mission. They had both been up all night. He'd been worried about the revolution; she'd been worried about her son. So much was at stake right now... Ten years of planning went into this and everything was about to be put in motion.

"Good." He said, somewhat hesitantly. "Then… Off you go."

She just wanted to run up to Chuck and stop him. To hide him somewhere where no one could find him or hurt him. She wanted to hold him and Ellie close; she made the mistake of letting them go too many times already.

A round door opened on the left side of the hovercraft and a ladder unfurled beneath it. Plutarch nodded grimly at her and she grabbed his hand. "We'll be fine." She whispered trying to convince both of them, before she turned and followed Chuck and the other woman down the ladder.

* * *

><p>As soon as her feet met the dewy grass it hit her. The unmistakable smell of coal. The scent that always made her feel like home, close to everything she loved. Close to her children, close to her husband and his embrace. Right now, she just felt sick.<p>

They got to the district-fence, and once they had made sure that no one was around, they climbed through it. To stand there, back on her old street, soaking up all of those scents that she had tried so hard to remember for the past ten years, almost made her eyes water. But she couldn't break down, now was not the right time.

She cleared her throat and began to briskly walk down to the city square. The others followed her, and within five minutes they had arrived. Once there she turned to them and whispering they went through their mission one last time.

"Okay so we're all set. I'll go to the Justice building and talk to the mayor, and you two will keep guard, understood?"

They nodded. She looked into her son's eyes and tried to smile comfortingly, but failed. The worry in his chocolate brown eyes made her heart beat faster and she looked away from him, she had to focus now. She left them and walked over to the Justice building. Every cell in her body told her to turn around and to run back to her son, but she continued on until she stood in front of the mayor's office door.

She knocked on the door, and a few seconds later a grey-haired man in his mid fifties opened it. At the sight of her his eyes widened, and she quickly put a finger in front of her mouth to prevent him from calling out her name to the crowded corridor. Still noticeably shocked he led her into the warm stuffy room and closed the door behind them, and she silently sat down on the other side of his desk.

"Mary." He said slowly, almost whispering. "I… I thought you were dead! Where have you been for the past… I don't know… six years?"

She looked out the window, meeting the eyes of her old friend was too much for her.

"Business Howard. You know what it does to you."

He scratched his head and rose from his wooden chair. He walked up to her slowly and grabbed her hand.

"Mary you have heard, right? I mean… About Chuck and Ellie?"

"Yes, I have. Or… What about Ellie?"

"Both she and her fiancé have been missing for the past months. They've been declared dead recently…"

She swallowed and desperately tried to fight back her tears. She knew that both Chuck and Ellie were safe, in fact this was good news, because it meant that no one was looking for them, but hearing it like this… It reminded too much of another time when she had been sitting in this exact chair, getting news that would forever change her life.

* * *

><p><strong>Six years earlier<strong>

_"Mary, thank you for coming__. Please sit down."_

_She hugged her old friend and smiled, but an impending sense of stress and impatience made her eyes constantly drawing to the clock that hung on the paneled wall. She only had two hours in district twelve before the hovercraft would pick her up and bring her back to the Capitol, and during those two hours she was supposed to meet with a technician that her boss was interested in, there was no time for private commitments._

_"So…I can't believe you're actually here! You've really been gone for so long Mary." His voice was friendly and accommodating, but the uneasiness didn't escape her. He thought she had made the wrong choice__ by __leaving, __given __the way he looked at her __it was clear__. The accusation __in his eyes made her wince, even shudder. __She had always thought that out of all of her old friends he would be the one to really understand her choice to leave, and right now she almost felt betrayed._

_"Do you want something?" She said harshly._

_He sighed._

_"Mary there's something you need to know. You better sit down."_

_She looked at him with confusion._

_"Why are you telling me to sit down? Has something happened?"_

_Terrified and with a pounding heart she looked at her friend. "__Not my children. Please tell me they're okay."_

_ "They're fi ... They're okay." _

_She exhaled with relief. __"Never __scare me like that again." _

_"Mary it's Stephen. I'm so sorry but he died in a mining accident a couple of weeks ago." _

_She looked up at him. She couldn't breathe. She really couldn't breathe. A strange pressure over her chest made her feel like she was falling apart, __which maybe was true__._

_"No..."_

_ Howard walked up to her, but she backed away. Tears began to stream down her cheeks and she looked at him vacantly__._

_"He can't be ... No! He's smart, he is! I bet he's still down there in the mine hiding somewhere! Have you even looked for him? We have to look for him!"_

_"Mary." He said firmly. "He is dead, we even found his body." Her eyes overflowed again, and he went up to her. This time she let him embrace her, let him comfort her as if she was a small child._

_When __she was able to walk again she made her way back to their small house in the Seam. The nostalgic feeling of home __overwhelmed her and she broke down crying again. __Once she got to the small white-painted house she peeked through __one of the windows, not really sure what she was looking for. She wanted her husband, she wanted to see him in there, cooking or just sitting on a chair. She wanted to be close to him again, feel his strong arms around her. Hear him whisper comforting words in her ear…_

_Ellie and Chuck came into the kitchen, and the sight of them made her feel faint. Three years had passed since she last saw them. Three years, two months and seven days to be exact. __For so long had she tried so desperately to remember every detail about them; what they looked like, what they sounded like__, even what they smelled like, and seeing them brought up too many memories. __They looked so grown up__, __both physically and mentally, but they were still so young. They were thin as paper, with worn out clothes and that empty look in their eyes that she had seen so many times._

_She had failed. She had failed to take care of her children; she had failed to even be there for them. She had failed as a wife too; her husband had died alone, with no one there to help him. She felt sick and threw up. She had to leave now, they were waiting for her. One last time she turned to look at her daughter and son. No wonder Howard sounded accusing__. What had she done to them?_

* * *

><p><strong>Present<strong>

Home. He was home. He took a deep breath and struggled not to smile when he felt the familiar smell of coal tickle his nostrils. He looked around. Everything was so normal here; it was like the last few months never even took place. Children ran around the streets, playing and laughing while their parents traded groceries in the small shops. Men were standing smoking in a corner, eagerly discussing the latest mining drill they had received at work. Everything seemed as usual, except that it wasn't.

"Maybe we should go someplace else? Just standing here might look suspicious."

He turned around and faced the woman that had joined him and his mother for the mission. The woman, named Samara Parker, was in her mid forties with long black hair and laugh wrinkles around her eyes. She was beautiful and very nice to everyone, but clouded by sorrow and and broken dreams of her past.

Like everyone else (not including Chuck), she told the group her story at their first team-meeting. With tears in her eyes she told them how her only daughter Maria, who was just fourteen years old, was reaped from her forever. She died quickly in the initial bloodbath at the Cornucopia, and numbed by grief Angela had gone into the woods, never to return to her home in district eleven. For two years she lived in the woods, hunting and moving from place to place, but one unusually cold winter about one year ago she couldn't find anything to eat and dying from starvation she just lied down on the ground. She couldn't have known that she lied down on top of district thirteen and they soon came to her rescue.

Chuck would never forget how she looked him in the eyes and told him that her daughter would have been his age if she'd been alive. It made him feel guilty about being saved when her daughter had no such luck.

"You're right, maybe we should."

He looked one last time towards the Justice Building, making sure that everything seemed fine, and aimlessly walked down the cobblestone-streets of his old district.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later he found himself at the small but beautiful graveyard, and decided to visit his father's grave. He brushed the cold dark stone lightly with his fingertips and then pressed two fingers to his mouth and raised his hand into the air, the district's way of honoring the ones they loved.<p>

_**Stephen Bartowski**_

_**2154-2195**_

_**Beloved husband and father, a true hero**_

"What do you think you're doing?"

He looked up. That voice...

Morgan Grimes, his best friend since he was six years old, was standing behind him with a cross expression on his face.

"Don't touch that grave, you hear me? Go mind your own busine ..." He was interrupted by a loud heart-wrenching scream, followed by several shots. "What the hell?" Morgan turned and looked horrified towards the square, where the sounds came from.

_"Carl, Samara, abort the mission and come back to the Hovercraft."_ Plutarch's panicked voice crackled in his earpiece.

He looked into the terrified blue eyes of the person in front of him, and he knew what he had to do.

"It's me, Chuck. I'm alive."

The blue eyes looked at him with shock, but the shock was quickly replaced with pure disbelief and disgust.

"People like you make me sick." He said and turned around to walk away.

Chuck stepped closer. The cries of help and the sound of the Capitol's rifles were getting closer. They had to leave now or else it would be too late. He grabbed Morgan's shoulder and forced him to turn around.

"Please trust me, we have to go now or we will get killed."

Morgan angrily pushed away Chuck's hand. "What the hell man!? What do you want from me?" Chuck looked imploringly at him. "Please, come with me, Morgan, we have to go. I do not know how I'm going to convince you but ..." He stopped. "No. I mean I do!"

Morgan looked at him as if he was crazy and quickly began to walk backwards away from him.

"You're in love with Ellie!" He called after him. "You've never told anyone but me about that. Most nights you sleep naked, al buffo-style. You want to become a blacksmith, but you don't have the grades or the right connections. You want to know who your father is, but you've never dared to ask your mom. Your childhood nickname is Organ, but you've made me promise not to tell anyone ever about that." He sighed, looking down at his feet. "I still haven't…"

The little bearded man had stopped walking. Slowly he turned around, facing Chuck with wide eyes.

"Chuck?"

Chuck smiled, nodding. "Yeah it's me."

Morgan slowly walked back whilst he critically looked at Chuck.

"But you look nothing like the Chuck I knew.

Chuck smiled.

"That's kind of the whole point."

"Are all of the other Hunger Games-kids alive as well, but with changed faces? Does Sarah know you're…?"

His smile faded.

"No. I was an exception, and no, she doesn't."

Morgan looked away.

_"Carl you have to come now or we'll leave without you!"_

"Morgan please... Come with me, you can meet Ellie and Sarah again, we live in district thirteen, it exists! Everything is just so insane right now, but if you come it'll be just like old times. But we have to go!"

"They're alive? They've been declared dead here."

Chuck nodded and smiled, but Morgan did not look happy, on the contrary, he looked completely empty and dejected out.

"I know it's a lot to take in Morgan, I understand that. But we really have to g .."

"You don't." Morgan interrupted with an angry voice filled with accusation. "You really don't Chuck. For the past few months I've thought that you, my best friend was dead. A few weeks after your death your sister, who is like a sister to me too, goes missing with both Devon and Sarah. After a few weeks they too were declared dead. I thought they had killed themselves, not being able to cope with everything that had happened." He sighed, now with tears in his eyes. "Two weeks ago my mom was taken by the Capitol. They arrested her, accusing her of treason. They claimed she had something to do with Sarah going missing... How do you think I've been feeling? I've had everyone I love taken from me, and now you come here and tell me that you're all alive and living happy lives in a district that I didn't even know existed…?"He looked down shaking his head bitterly.

"I'm glad you're alive Chuck, I really am. But my best friend still died in that arena, because he'd never do something like this to me."

He walked away, leaving a speechless Chuck behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Two days later<strong>

They still didn't know exactly what had gone wrong. Everyone blamed each other, no one trusted anyone right now. All they knew was that the Peacekeepers had caught Mary and the mayor, and that she had been taken into custody in the Capitol. They weren't even sure if she was still alive...

He couldn't help but feel like it was all his fault. He'd been so caught up in everything else, that he forgot the real reason he'd been there; to protect his mother. It was ironic really, how he'd been chosen to help with the mission simply because he didn't have any connections to district twelve. If they only knew how wrong they'd been...

_"Knock knock."_

Sleepily he rose from his bed and opened the door. For a few seconds they looked quietly at each other, before the shock decreased and he whispered:

"What are you doing here?"

* * *

><p><strong>Yup, that's it!<strong>

**So who is the mystery door-knocker...? Please leave a comment and say who you think it is**! :)

**/Rebeccca321**


	22. Chapter 22

Hello everyone!

As all of you probably have noticed, my updates have gone from weekly to three times a year-y... The thing is my new school is taking so much time and energy from me that every free second I have I need for me-time. ;)

No one wants this story to continue more than I do, but I need to simply look things over, and sort everything out. This is going to be the best for both me and the story, so I'm going to take a break now, and I promise that I'm going continue this story in june. :)

/Rebecca123


	23. Chuck versus the kiss

**I am SO sorry. I know that I promised to update in June, and you patiently waited for me to do so, but I never did. I have been busy this summer, but to be completely honest with you, now that I've spent so much time away from this story I never really felt like finishing it. I've been thinking about simply telling you what kind of an ending I had in mind, and leave it at that, but it doesn't feel right, I want to end this story in a proper way, even if it might take time. So I will write the last chapters, and from what I'm thinking right now, there will be three more chapters to it, one of them being an epilogue. I hope that you all are okay with this, and I promise to try to make these last few chapters as interesting as I can!**

**/Rebecca321**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or Chuck**

* * *

><p>"And that's when we realized that the goat wasn't even a girl!"<p>

They laughed loudly both of them and Chuck smiled, looking at his best friend. He hadn't laughed for ages, and had almost forgotten how good it felt.

He had been overwhelmed, to say the least, when he had found Morgan standing outside his door two nights earlier. Blushing he had apologized and told Chuck that the shock from seeing his friend alive and back in district twelve had been too much for him, blinding him completely, ant that he regretted what he had said. Chuck had apologized too, knowing what he had put his best friend through. After a rather awkward moment of silence, the two friends had embraced and left their anger behind them.

They entered the small dining room, which smelled acridly of rotten food and soap, and placed themselves in the food queue. Chuck fetched himself a tray and laughed as he saw the eager look on Morgan's face.

"Dude, honestly don't get excited about the food here, it's _horrible_. And coming from a guy who has spent most of his life starving, that says a _lot._

"No, you don't get it Chuck. There is no food in twelve, none. The peacekeepers would hand out a personal ration to each person every day, and most times that ration would consist of a can of beans. I have the right to be excited."

Morgan smiled, but Chuck could see in his eyes that he hadn't been exaggerating about the food-situation in district twelve.

"How was it there, Morgan?"

This was the question that he had been avoiding, because Morgan had seemed so unwilling to talk about it; a fact that made Chuck very anxious. Even though he lived in thirteen now, his heart was always going to belong to district twelve. The only thing that Morgan had told him about was how he had been able to come to thirteen. Apparently he had found out about how a few people from district twelve had been allowed to go through the mining tunnels on to district thirteen, through a newly built tunnel connecting the two districts underground. He had volunteered to go among the first ones, and after a two days walk he had found himself in the tunnels of thirteen.

Morgan looked down and fiddled absently on his sleeve.

"It's not great, Chuck." He began, his voice suddenly serious and more mature. "Everyone is starving, worse than normally I mean. There are peacekeepers _everywhere_, and not nice ones like Darius, but really horrible and cruel ones. As the Capitol is taking over more and more of the district some of us started to have secret group meetings, talking about "forbidden" things, insurrection and such. But it was hard because you never knew who you could trust with information… It was through one of those meetings I was able to find out about the tunnel to thirteen. We decided to try and come here all of us, but the others haven't showed up yet, so I don't really know what happened to them…"

Chuck looked down at his best friend not really knowing what to say. The horrible situation in twelve shocked him, he hadn't really had a clue about in what state his old home was in. A surge of guilt hit him hard, and he looked away from his friend as an awkward silence filled the space between them.

"Morgan, I…" Was all he could say before he was interrupted and almost run over by a girl pushing her way through the queue, throwing herself into the arms of Morgan.

Chuck felt his face pale as he saw who it was.

"Morgan! I can't believe you're here! I saw your name on one of the doors in my corridor, and I couldn't believe it! I'm so glad you're okay!"Sarah cried out.

She hugged him again and Chuck looked away, trying to ignore the sudden wave of jealousy rolling through his body.

"But how on earth did you get here?"

But before Morgan was able to respond she had taken his tray out of his hands and dragged her with him towards an empty table.  
>Morgan smiled apologizingly towards Chuck and walked away with her, leaving Chuck by himself in the queue.<p>

"Here you go, love." Said the old lady who was working in the kitchen, and gave Chuck a plate of fish soup. He looked down at the plate and then shot it back to her.

"You know what, I'm not hungry."  
>He turned and walked quickly out of the dining room.<p>

* * *

><p>"We have a problem." Plutarch stated as Chuck came half-running into the room. Everyone else was already there, and he silently slipped into a free chair. "It doesn't really have anything to do with the rising, but if this problem gets bigger, we won't be able to go through with it." He continued.<p>

"What is it?" Javert, a former peacekeeper from district two asked worriedly.

Plutarch sighed, slipping into a chair himself. Chuck hadn't noticed it before, but Plutarch looked like a total wreck. Ha had dark circles under his eyes. His hair was matted and ungroomed and his clothes hang loosely on his once overweight body.

"We're running low on food, real low."

"But how is that possible? I thought we had some sort of lake down here? Wasn't there fields with grain too?" Samara said, resignation obvious in her drawn face.

"The project with growing grain down here failed, the crops wouldn't grow. We do have fish, but the fish can't give our inhabitants all the nutrients and proteins that they need. The children are suffering from vitamin deficiency. This could jeopardize... is jeopardizing our entire district."

"But this must have happened before! You've lived down here for ages!" An old woman from district 6 asked indignantly. "Surely you must have some sort of solution to it?"

Plutarch nodded. "We have been through similar situations, Ginevra, but never to this extent. We have doubled the number of residents in the district thirteen in just a few weeks. We used to be able to solve these kinds of problems by giving residents vitamin supplements and various things like that, but we have no ability to provide all residents with it now. Moreover, almost all of our resources devoted to the rising."

"Then what do we do?" Javert asked quietly.

"I can only see one option here. We stop bringing in new residents to thirteen, and we look to take down the Capitol as soon as we can, Because from this point forth, our district will only become sicker and weaker until we can 't handle it anymore."

"But." Chuck said before he could stop himself. He could not help but think about what Morgan had told him about the situation in district twelve. "The other districts aren't ready to strike yet, the Capitol is too strong! We have to wait."

"That is no longer a solution, Carl. I'm sorry but this is our only chance."

Silence filled the room, no one seemed to know what to say.

"There is another solution." Sarah stated, and everyone turned to look at her.

"And what would that be?" Plutarch said fatigued.

"Getting the residents here what they need. Meat and vegetables and those things. Why don't we get up to hunt and pluck the things we need? I know that you consider it dangerous, but honestly, if we plan each visit up there carefully, it'll be fine!"

"Sarah." Plutarch sighed. "Surely you must understand that it isn't that easy."

"I don't mean to be rude, but I think you're making things more complicated than they have to be!" Sarah said loudly, and although her voice was calm, there was a somewhat annoyed undertone to it. Chuck knew how she felt. So far had district thirteen acted incredibly selfish, putting the other districts in horrible situations. Plutarch, who himself came from the Capitol did not seem to have completely understood what he was getting into when he started with the uprising, and now he didn't dare to take any risks. According to Chuck, taking risks was necessary for them to succeed with this.

"Fine then!" Plutarch said bitterly. "Let's vote. All those agreeing with Sarah, raise your hands."  
>A clear majority of the room raised their hands, and Plutarch fell cross back in his chair, clearly not happy with the outcome of the voting.<br>"And who do you think we should send to the forest then Sarah? Most of the inhabitants here have never even been up there."

"I can go." She said.

"Me too." Chuck said quickly.

"Anyone who has any kind of experience with weapons should be allowed to come up and hunt, others can pick berries or something. As the food is going to run out quickly again, so I suggest we get up there about once a week, to refill our supplies. But only until the other districts are ready of course." She continued, and smiled at Chuck. He looked down, his head spinning with joy.

"This is it!" He thought. "Now I can finally get to know her again."

"Okay then Sarah, if you're so sure. I will arrange to take you above ground on Sunday, 11 pm sharp. But keep in mind that if anything goes wrong, it is your fault, and yours only." Plutarch said, and left the room.

* * *

><p>The fresh air filled his lungs for the second time since the games, and a kind of crazy euphoria over the idea of being allowed to stay here and be "free" in the woods for several hours made him almost want to laugh out loud.<br>He looked to his right, and Sarah seemed to be feeling almost the same way.

"Shall we?" Javert asked loudly, once he had finished handing out the weapons.

"Yes." Sarah said, and before anyone could react, she had picked up a bow and arrow and vanished into the woods.

Before Chuck could think he had run off after her. If it was him desperately wanting today to be a little bit like old times, or just an old reflex, he did not know, but he didn't really care either.

As he ran he stumbled on a root that had lain hidden in the ground, and nearly collided with Sarah for the second time that week, almost landing on top of her.

"Carl! What are you doing!?"

"I. .. uh ..." He said, standing up quickly whilst brushing the dirt and leaves away from his clothes. "They paired us together. They thought the two of us should hunt together, for safety reasons. "He lied, earnestly hoping that she wouldn't go back and ask why.

"I don't need a babysitter, I can take care of myself."

"I know." He said sincerely.

She looked at him suspiciously and then sighed.

"Fine then. Do you have any experience with this at all? If you scare the animals or make me miss them somehow, I swear you'll regret it."

She continued to instruct and admonish him as they walked through the forest and Chuck smiled. This wasn't just a little bit like old times, this was _just_ like old times.

* * *

><p>As the hours passed he enjoyed spending time with Sarah more and more. She had finally let her guard down, and was now joking and laughing wholeheartedly. They had had a great day, both in terms of company, but also in terms of hunting. Sarah had somehow managed to take down two deer and a squirrel, and Chuck had, much to Sarah's surprise, caught two rabbits. This forest was far better to hunt in than the one in twelve.<p>

Chuck sank groaning to the ground.

"Note to self; never _ever _wear new shoes when you're going to walk for a long time." He said taking off his shoes. "I haven't walked this much since the ga ..."

"Since the what?" Sarah said, sitting down next to him.

"Uh ... Since the gardening day, in my uh ... old district."

"Gardening Day?"

"Yeah, we would pluck things, to grow in our gardens ..."

"Oh."

She laughed, and Chuck couldn't help but do the same.

"Yeah."

"I didn't have a garden in my distr ... What is that?"

"What?" Chuck said absentmindedly, now inspecting his feet carefully for blisters.

"That sound. Listen."

Chuck listened and understood what she meant. A strange buzzing sound, whose source he could not detect became louder and louder…

"I don't kn ..."

"Look!" She interrupted him, pointing her finger up towards the sky. Before Chuck could react she had rose to her feet again, grabbed his hand and dragged him with her.

"Sarah what are you ..." But then he saw it. A huge hovercraft with a Panem-shield hovered up in the sky only about fifty yards away from them, and in the glade where they now stood, the people in the hovercraft would have no trouble spotting them.

"Run." Chuck managed to say, trying desperately not to panic.

"But the game we've collected..." She began.

"Leave it." He said, dragging her with him.

They ran as fast as they could, and continued to do so long after they had lost sight of the hovercraft.

"In here." Sarah said, and Chuck followed her into a small cave in a rock wall.

They sat down against the cold cave wall, both of them with red cheeks from running.

"I think we made it." Chuck said, trying to catch his breath. His fitness had definitely worsened since the games. Sarah merely nodded in reply.

"Do you think the others made it too?"

"I don't know. Hopefully they didn't go as far into the woods as we did."

"What do we do now?"

Sarah took off her jacket and put it down on the ground like a pillow, after which she lay down with her head on it.

"Now." She replied. "We wait."

* * *

><p>Chuck didn't know how many hours they had spent in the cave, but it had to be at least five or six. The sky had gone from mauve to pitch black, and they still hadn't heard anything from Plutarch or the others.<p>

He looked down at Sarah. Her face looked a bit eerie in the shadows that the small fire that they had lit cast upon it. She had been sleeping for the past two hours, and he had enjoyed simply watching her do so. This was just like replaying the last days of the games, only now they barely talked to each other.

"No!"

He looked down at Sarah, who still seemed to be asleep.

"No, leave him alone!" She cried out panicked.

"Sarah?" He said, moving closer to her. He had been right, she was still fast asleep.

"No! Don't hurt him!" She cried, and this time she started beating around wildly with her arms.

"Sarah!"

He knelt down beside her, grabbed her arms and her eyes fluttered opened. Tears slowly began to make their way down her cheeks and he hugged her tightly.

"It's okay Sarah. Everything is okay ..." He whispered as he felt her body shaking towards his.  
>They sat like that for a while, and when he finally released her, she had stopped sobbing.<p>

"You remind me so much of someone." She whispered, and before he could react she had leaned forward to kiss him. He was so shocked that he couldn't move. But he barely had time to answer the kiss until she had she had broken it and turned her face away from him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"I'm fine with it. Really, I mean ..."

He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand lying to her anymore. She deserved to know that he was alive. That he was okay. He had to tell her, he had to tell her _now_.

"I want to leave." She said, not paying any attention to him. "I need to get out of here." She picked up her jacket and before Chuck had had a chance to answer her, she had stormed out of the cave.

"Sarah wait!" He said, rushing after her into the darkness. All thoughts about telling her the truth blown away from his mind. "You can't just leave, it's dangerous!"

"It'll be fine, they're probably gone now." She said, not looking at him as she spoke.

"Sarah wait, I can't even see you! Let's talk this through."

"I don't want to talk, I'm sorry." He heard her say, as he searched for her in the darkness, silently cursing himself over not having brought a flashlight.

"Sarah please, we need to talk!"

But he was too late, Sarah Walker had already disappeared into the night.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you go! Hope you all liked it, and please, please, please leave a review and let me see if you still enjoy this story! <strong>

**/Rebecca321**


	24. Chuck versus the pink gas

**Soooooooooo...**

**I know it's been forever, and I'm not even going to try to apologize. Anyway, this chapter is a little shorter than I had intended it to be originally, so you'll get an update soon. Hope you like it! :)**

* * *

><p>Chuck looked out the bus window at the wild landscape that rushed past him at 60 miles an hour. Overgrown fields and abandoned ruins were scattered along the winding roads, and a white blanket of snow covered the ground.<p>

The bus continual bumping made it impossible for him to sleep, but the he doubted that he could have slept anyway. Three days ago the Department of Boarding and Lodging in thirteen had alerted them that the situation in the district was getting unsustainable. Every day new people came to the district, new and unknown diseases were spreading, and they were running low on food. Plutarch had immediately gathered them for a meeting, and told them that they were going to start their riot. There had been lots of doubt, not one of them had felt prepared or ready to go through with what they had planned for so long. On the other hand they had all realized that this was it, that they would never have a better chance than now. They decided upon sending three troops to the Capitol, and both he, Sarah and Morgan had volunteered to go with the first one. Plutarch had agreed that he and Sarah should be allowed to go, but he had thought that Morgan was too new and untrained to participate. He had, however, agreed that Morgan could go with the second troop which would set out two weeks later.

So here they were. Right in the middle of nowhere in a bus. He, Sarah and his mother were going together with a group of fifteen other people. District thirteen's very best in various areas, apparently. They had been driving along old roads that had been abandoned for many years. According to Plutarch this way of transportation was one that the Capitol would not foresee. _They will expect us to come in hovercrafts. Of course that would be a lot more efficient, but this is a smarter move_. No one had argued against it, and one day later they had started their journey.

He looked over at Sarah. She was sitting alone five rows behind him with her head against the window. She looked tired, but he suspected that she couldn't sleep either. For all they knew they could be driving towards certain death. Some people back in district thirteen had called it a suicide mission and Chuck couldn't blame them. The Capitol was superior to them in every way possible, but, Chuck told himself for the umpteenth time, they had a chance. Thirteen had been infiltrating the Capitol for over ten years, and they had been planning the riot for at least as long.

Alan, their driver, stopped the car and announced a ten-minute break. Chuck rose, grateful for a chance to stretch his aching legs, and exited the bus. Sarah followed him, but made sure to stand as far away from him as the small clearing they had parked in allowed. Things had been terribly awkward between them ever since the kiss, they had barely spoken at all to each other ever since. He had thought long and hard about simply going to her room to tell her, but knew deep within that it would be selfish. If he died during the riot she would've lost him twice. However, he had told himself, that if both of them made it, there would be no more lies between them.

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><p>Alan called for them, and he entered the bus once more. His mother sat down beside him and handed him a plate with food. "How do you feel Carl? Nervous?" She talked in a very formal voice, but her eyes expressed true concern. "I'm fine. I feel like we have a chance to actually finish this, once and for all." He answered her, whilst he started eating the food that she had given him. She smiled. "Well spoken young man." It was hard not being able to talk for real, but simply sitting here with his mother was more than he could have asked for. "Mrs Bartowski what were the…." But he stopped talking as she rose and walked away from him up to the small vent in the front of the bus. "What are you..?" But then he saw it. Pink-colored gas was coming out from the vent, quickly spreading through the bus.<p>

"No." He heard her whisper, before she started coughing, and then fell to the floor, smashing the porcelain plate with food that she had been holding in her hands. The loud crash made the driver, Alan, hit the brakes and stop the bus. "What the hell is going on back there?" He muttered angrily. "Haven't I told you to…" He caught site of the gas and was silenced. H started to quickly back away from the vent, but there was no space for him to flee and he too fell to the floor. The pink gas slowly spread through the bus, whilst people were desperately trying to get as far away from it as possible. They were screaming, trying to smash the windows they all knew too well were made out of bulletproof glass… Chuck legs felt like Jello. He swayed lightly were he stood, trying his absolute hardest not to give in. Then everything went black.

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><p>Morgan Grimes was pacing back and forth in a big rectangular room. Ten minutes ago all contact with the first troop had been broken. Various technicians had been trying to establish it multiple times, but no success had been made so far. "What if they're dead?" He thought. "What would I do if I lost them <em>again<em>?" He continued with his pacing until an angry Plutarch shouted at him to sit down. Morgan walked up to the table and sat down on one of the threadbare chairs, and buried his face in his hands. He didn't look up until ten minutes later, when one of Plutarch's moles in the Capitol informed them that troop 1 had been captured and neutralized. He stared blankly at the screen bearing the words of his friends' horrible faith and then buried his face in his hands again, trying to escape from a world where everything he loved was smashed to pieces. "It's all over then." Plutarch said silently and sank down into the closest chair. "They've won." Morgan looked up. "What are you saying?" Plutarch eyed him, sorrow evident in his face. "I'm sorry son, but there's nothing we can do."

Morgan walked up to him and sat down in the chair next to him. "My two best friends and my best friend's mum was on that bus. I hope you aren't saying that you're giving up and letting the Capitol kill them all!?" Plutarch looked at him with the tired eyes of a man who has seen too much horror in his life. Too much death and sorrow, too many widows, widowers and orphans to cope with another war. "Morgan, son, there is nothing we can do. Don't think for a second that I don't know what will happen to the people on that bus, or that I don't suffer as much as you do by letting them go, but without them we simply have no chance in winning this war. I'm thinking rationally!"

Morgan rose so quickly that the chair he had been sitting in fell over. "You coward! You big fat liar! You have been telling us to fight the the Capitol. To fight the injustice, the suppression, the dominion of the Capitol! Was it all lies? Things you said to us but that don't matter when it really counts? No, I'm not buying that."

"Morgan please, you don't understand." Plutarch pleaded, but Morgan interrupted him.

"No _you_ don't understand. I've lost everyone important to me once, and god knows I'm not letting that happen again. This is it, we have to fight now, or we'll never get the opportunity again! Otherwise they'll dominate over us forever! Hunger Games every year and stricter rules in the districts. We won't live proper lives, I'm sure they'll hunt us down and kill us all anyway, and if it takes dying to stop them, then that's what I'm prepared to do."

He walked towards the door but stopped with his hand on the doorknob, turning around to face Plutarch. "This is a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right. Call for me once you've decided to do what's right."

He exited the room, leaving an abashed Plutarch behind him.

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><p>He was sitting in a small room with white tiles both on the floor and the walls. A small floor drain on the floor made him feel sick. What did the Capitol do to people in here? He tried to move, but something metallic was holding his head, arms and legs stuck to the chair that he was sitting in.<p>

"Hello?" He stopped struggling and looked around for the source of the voice.

"Sarah?"

"Carl?"

"Yeah."

Her voice came from behind him, and he guessed that they were sitting with their backs to each other.

"Where do you think we are?"

He thought about it for a second.

"I think we're somewhere in the Capitol. Probably in some sort of prison, don't you think?"

There was a long paus.

"What do you think will happen to us? Do you think they'll kill us?"

He didn't need any time to answer this one.

"Probably. I mean, they could turn us into Avoxes, but we're too big a threat I think. It would be smoothest to kill us."

She laughed at this, and he frowned.

"What's so funny about that?"

"Smoothest." She repeated, and laughed again. He couldn't help but laugh too. It was all so silly. Here they were, surely about to die, and everything felt so incredibly ridiculous. How had they even ended up here?

"Sarah there is something I need to tell you."

No. He couldn't. Not now. Not didn't know why he had suddenly decided upon telling her, but he was sure that it would be a terrible mistake. What had he been thinking?

"No, I'm sorry. It was nothing."

She sighed.

"Carl?"

"Mm?"

"We are going to die here."

There was no sadness evident in her voice, it was more of a statement. A fact that you simply couldn't look away from.

"I suppose we are." He mumbled.

"So tell me whatever you were going to tell me, it doesn't really matter because you'll regret it if you don't."

"It's not like that." he whispered, suddenly not able to find his voice.

"Then what is it like Carl?"

"You will never speak to me again. You will hate me forever and I'm so sorry."

His whole body was aching and the thought of telling her was eating him up from the inside, yet he had never been this tempted to go through with telling her ever before.

She seemed slightly taken aback by his last answer, but quickly returned to her usual self.

"I won't be able to speak to you ever again anyway. Please. I don't want to die not knowing."

He thought about what she had said, and closed his eyes.

"I want you to remain calm, and to believe me. Most importantly I beg of you that you forgive me."

"You've got it Carl. I promise."

He opened his eyes again and rested his head against the chair's back. The words came pouring out of his mouth, and he couldn't stop them. Everything that he had been holding back, keeping secret and kept to himself, he told her with a voice that got hoarser with every sentence. All that had happened in the arena that he hadn't told her back then, everything that had happened when they had been separated. The words came flowing from his mouth like they'd been there waiting to be told for months, which they probably had. Not seeing her face helped, and she didn't utter a single word as he spoke.

"Sarah. He said lastly. "Please forgive me. I know that it must be so hard, but I did it all for you."

"I…"

He could tell that she was sobbing, and he felt tears forming in his own eyes too.

"I just… But _why_ Chuck? _Why_ wouldn't you tell me? Do you have any idea how much I've suffered thinking of you, of…of what happened?" Her voice was shaking, and she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm _so_ sorry Sarah." His voice broke. "I did it because I wanted to protect you, to…"

"You noble, self sacrificing prat!"

He fell silent.

"What?"

"How could you think, even for a second that I would rather live life without you and be "safe" than to be with you and have you back!?"

She was still crying, but he couldn't help but laugh.

"Sarah I'm sorry, please forgive me. Since we're about to die and everyth…"

He fell silent once more as the room went pitch-black and the pressure from the metal handcuffs, that he had been struggling so hard to get out of just a few minutes ago, let go of his wrists.

"What the…?"

He stood up slowly, expecting a bullet to his chest any second, and heard Sarah do the same.

"Are they letting us out? Is this some sort of a test?" Sarah whispered with her voice still hoarse after all the crying.

"I don't know." He whispered back. He felt his way through the dark room, until he found a door. With his heart beating twice as fast normal, he pushed the handle down. The door slid up. "But it's the best chance we've got."

His hand found her in the darkness, and for a short moment their lips met. They were not going to make it to the next day, Chuck knew that much. But in some surreal way he still felt like the happiest man in the world as he set down the dark empty corridor with the girl he loved holding his shaking hand in hers.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked it! :) You'll get another chapter sooooooon (that's a promise).<strong>

**Please leave a review, even if it is to scold me for never updating. :)**


	25. Chuck versus the lie

**So here we go, we've reached yet another chapter of this story, after quite some period of time since the first chapter came out… ;) I've had at least half of this chapter written for some time (about a year?) and I don't know why I haven't just sat down and finished it. **

**If there are still some of you out there who remember this story and want to continue reading it you would make me so glad! I hope that you will enjoy reading this and that you are pleased with the way it continues, and when you're done please consider taking a minute or two to leave me a review. It means more than you know! **

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><p><strong>Chuck<strong>

He ran as fast as he could, with her hand in his, zigzagging through the corridor between confused prisoners leaving their cells, trying to accustom their eyes to the sudden darkness. His heart beat fast; he could almost feel the blood rush through his veins and heart, oxygenating his organs. Would they be working in an hour's time? No. He mustn't think like that. They could escape this. They _would._

"Are we free to go?"

"What's happening?"

"Where are you two going?"

The prisoners that were brave - or maybe stupid - enough to leave their cells shouted after them as they ran. An old man, or at least he looked old with his dark-skinned face marked with countless scars and bruises, his body missing both an arm and a foot, caught hold of Chuck's free hand and forced him to stop.

"You." He said with a hoarse voice, letting go of Chuck's hand but blocking him so that he could not flee. "You know what's going on. Tell me."

"I don't know, let me go!" Chuck answered, more harshly than he had intended, and was immediately filled with regret and pity for the man who had probably spent decades alone being tortured. "I'm sorry but I don't know any more than you do, and we really have to go before they get here."

"So you've decided to run for it? What if they catch you?"

Chaos and panic was erupting everywhere around them. The prisoners whose cells had not been opened were screaming for help behind their locked doors. The alarms from the cells that had been opened pierced through the air, reminding everyone that the guards were indeed coming. People were searching and calling out for their loved ones who had been imprisoned with them, not knowing if they were still alive or had died ten years ago…

Sarah was dragging him away, anxious to get out of there. He looked at the man, who swayed slightly were he stood, supported by only one foot. He could not escape even if he wanted to.

"Nothing is worse than staying here in that cell." The words came naturally, and he immediately knew them to be true.

The man didn't say anything; he simply jumped aside on his one good foot to let them pass. But Chuck couldn't just pass him. Leaving him behind felt inhumane, it made him think of how the Capitol treated people.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" He said loudly, trying to overpower the noise around them. "Anyone I can talk to?"

The man hesitated for a while, with tears forming in his eyes that seemed to be seeing not this crowded cellblock, but another time. Another life.

"Rose. Tell her... Tell her I love her. I never got to tell her that myself. Tell Rose Jones in district 11 that she is the most beautiful woman I've ever met and that I'm sorry about the way things turned out. Tell her Jack says hi."

Chuck nodded. "You have my word." With one last glance at the old raggedy man they were once more running down the ward.

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><p><strong>Mary<strong>

Oh how she hated these rooms. The crimson-coloured walls and the giant windows with the heavy black curtains, making it absolutely impossible to see the sunlight. The strong scent of roses wherever you went, making her feel sick. The possibility of seeing the man whom she hated more than anything else in the world... Mary Bartowski was definitely not happy to be back in Snow's palace, even if she was there sneaking around plotting to kill the man himself.

But today it wasn't just the smell of those awful roses that made her feel queasy, no she had a horrible feeling that something was off, besides the fact that any guard finding her was likely to shoot her on sight. After she had fallen asleep on that bus she had woken up in one of the Capitol's holding cell. Well no surprise there, that was to be expected. But being a former Game Maker and knowing about the Capitol's computer system had allowed her not only to hack her way out of the chair she had been mechanically tied to, but to override the lock on her door and on other doors in the ward. That was a mistake that Snow wouldn't make.

No something was definitely off, if only she could figure out what...

A sudden sound on the other side of the oak-door leading in to the room where she was made her jump, and she immediately hid behind one of the big curtains. "What a spy I am, hiding here." She thought to herself.

"No this room is a dead end, there are no other doors in here. Let's get back."

That voice. So familiar and yet to hear it here made her more scared than if it had been the voice of Snow himself. She quickly stepped out from behind the curtain.

"Chuck."

Both he and Sarah jumped at her sudden appearance.

"Jeez! Mum, what are you doing here? We need to leave now."

"No, you need to leave now. I'm going to end this, once and for all. I need to find Snow."

"No." Chuck's answer was barely a whisper. His chocolate eyes were pleading with her. "Mum please you just came back. We can leave, we can be a family you, Ellie and me. That man has already deprived you and us of so much. He will kill you if you go after him. Just come with us. It doesn't always have to be us, does it?"

The idea was so tempting. A proper family, the one that she had always been dreaming about during those long dark years in the Capitol. Chuck and Ellie. A home. But it was just as impossible an idea as it was tempting.

"Chuck. You know I can't. That man has taken everything from me, my whole life. If I don't stop him, can you imagine how many more he'll do the same thing to? I need to end this. Now. For you and Ellie. For your father and me. Justice."

"Then I'm coming with you." His answer was short and firm.

"No Chuck I'm begging you. The only thing that makes it easier for me to face this is knowing that you and Ellie are safe."

"Well we're not are we? Nobody's safe now. If you're doing this then I'm going with you."

"Me too." Sarah added decidedly.

Mary sighed a defeated sigh, running her hand through her hair i desperation.

"Fine. But we need to split up to be able to find Snow's office quicker. Can you take the west wing? If you find it you do not get inside okay? You come back here and you inform me. I think all of the guards are still down trying to handle the prisoners so we should be all right for another half hour or so, but be careful will you?"

Chuck walked up to her and hugged her tightly. "Promise, and the same goes for you too mum."

She watched with a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes as her son left the room. She knew these rooms and corridors all too well. She knew that the west wing consisted of a dining room and a few bedrooms for the maids. She also knew that two rooms from where she was standing there was an office. An office belonging to a certain President.

Was Chuck ever going to forgive her? Could you feel guilty when you were dead? Oh well. If she was going to die she was going to take Snow with her.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading, please leave a comment! :) I promise that another chapter will be up soon (at least by my <strong>**standards)! ;)**


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